World of Warcraft Guide to Cooking and Fishing

For the Horde, here is what you do:

1) Bloodhoof Village: There is a Fishing trainer along the lake, a cooking

trainer in the large tradecraft hut, and a vendor on the north side of town that
sells "Fishing Supplies". I mention this last one as this vendor sells the
"Recipe: Brilliant Smallfish" that requires only 1 cooking skill to cook fish. (This
recipe is also sold by the Fishing supplies camp in Tirisfal Glades between
Undercity and the Scarlet Monestary).

But where can I go to find Brilliant Smallfish you ask? Why, right there at the
lake next to Bloodhoof. You can raise both fishing and cooking to 50-75 skill
without ever leaving town, and use the trainers there to go to journeyman in
both.

2) Ratchett: The next step on your journey will be lovely Ratchett in the
Barrens. Here, a kindly vendor who stands near the head of the dock will sell
you the "Recipe: Rainbow Fin Albacore" which requires 50 cooking skill. And
once again, these tasty fish can be found ... right there fishing off the dock,
where you can wave at the nice elves, dwarves and gnomes leaping from the
boat for an adventure before they are slaughtered by the Horde players who
hang out there waiting for them.

You can raise your fishing skill over 100 here, and cook the fish up to about
100 as well, while also getting some random extras like Oily Blackfish, Firefin
Snapper and some engineering supplies that can be used, sold, or given as
gifts to your lower skill alchemist and engineering friends.

But ... before you leave Ratchett, visit the kindly fisherman at the end of the
dock one more time, because there is another cooking recipe you will need:
"Recipe: Bristle Whisker Catfish". Then you are ready for your next exciting
adventure of standing in place clicking a bobber every few minutes.

*** For the lazy and rich: Ignore most beyond this point regarding good fishing
spots if all you want to do is raise cooking and don't care about getting fishing
up at all. At around 100 skill you can buy raw fish from "fish food" vendors and
skill up cooking that way. I like the fishing vendor at Steamwheedle Port in
Tanaris (building right next to the dock) for this method. You would raise
cooking to 225 at least doing this, although without fishing you won't have
access to the ingredients for some of the artisan recipes, like mana regen
buff, +agi buff, etc. ***

3) Stonetalon/Milkfallom Lake: There are other spots where you can get the
friendly Bristle Whisker Catfish (e.g. the river just south of the Orgrimmar west
entrance), but in Milkfallom Lake in Stonetalon, about 4 out of 5 items you fish
up are this delicious (and whiskered) delicacy. To avoid dealing with Alliance
while there, I suggest swimming to the little island in the middle of the lake to
do your fishing, but that's up to the individual's desire.
Fishing these up will take both your fishing skill and cooking skill to about 150
without much effort, at which point you need to go on a journey of exploration
for the books to raise your skills to expert.

Expert Fishing: This guide can be found in Booty Bay for 1g. If you were to
enter Booty Bay from the water via the sea ramp, there is a "Fisherman" NPC
in the door to your immediate right.

Expert Cooking: This is sold in Shadowprey Village in Desolace again for 1g.

4) 150-175, Make It Up: No perfect fish for cooking skill 150-175 although the
Bristle Whisker won't have become trivial for you so will still give you some
bonus. Otherwise the tangy clam meat from clamshells that sea creatures
drop can be used here for the 125 trainer recipe Goblin Deviled Clams (and is
fished up sometimes in #5)

5) Grom'gol/Shadowprey/Booty Bay: Buy some +75 lures at any fishing

supplies vendor (for Shadowprey and Booty Bay they are right there where
you will be fishing). For Gron'gol and Booty Bay, the fish you are looking for is
Raw Rockscale Cod. In Shadowprey at the dock you will be fishing up Mithril
Trout. Both of these are 175 skill cooking recipes sold at the Cook in Booty
Bay and the cooking supplies vendor in Shadowprey.

Doing both or either of these will take your cooking to 225 and you will have to
do a quest to raise to artisan. Cooking quest details are found here.

It's possible that you will also get fishing to 225 in Stranglethorn Vale or
Desolace if you work at it, but you will raise cooking to 225 well before you get
fishing there as fishing skillups slow down as you progress. You really only
need to get to late 100s anyway.

6) Cooking to 300: At around 190 fishing skill you can buy +75 lures and fish
in the river in Ferelas right in town there (next to the flight master works). This
river has the advantage that a wide variety of fish come up so you can play
with several recipes, although the dock at Steamwheedle is also good (but
again, alliance will pester you as opposed to Ferelas). All of the cooking
recipes you will need are either sold there in Camp Monanche in Ferelas or at
the merchant in Steamwheedle Port in Tanaris. There are about 8-10 recipes
between those two merchants, I won't list them all, just visit both vendors.

7) Fishing to 300: May god have mercy on your soul because Blizzard
certainly won't. That's really all I have to say on that.