RS3 Fishing Guide 

Fishing in RuneScape is a relaxing experience that many Gielinorians enjoy due to the communities, afk training methods, and money-making catches. It’s the perfect way to socialize in the game, as many players often chat while waiting to catch the fish. I’ve found so many great friends from fishing, so you may begin training with making money in mind but come out with much more than gained levels.

This RS3 fishing guide covers all you need to know about training the skill. We’ll analyze the best items to use, tools, quests, and different training methods.

Bottom Line Up Front

Here’s a shortened version of the guide if you don’t have time to browse through it. You’ll want to start fishing by completing quests that reward experience in the skill. Some options are The Fremennik Trials, Sea Slug, and Beneath Cursed Tides.

Before training fishing, you’ll want to use any buffs available to your character. This can be fishing outfits, auras, potions, or familiars.

Now decide if you want to quickly acquire level 99 fishing or want to make the most money. Both options follow a similar path until level 40 of fishing crayfish, herrings, and finally trouts/salmon. The fastest way to level the skill is barbarian fishing and dropping the caught fish. Alternatively, if you want to make the most money, catch lobsters, monkfish, sharks, and rocktails.

Continue reading if you’d like to learn more in-depth details about the skill.

RS3 Fishing Quests

Questing allows players to gain experience while exploring the huge world of Gielinor. If you want to earn some quest points and fishing experience, below you’ll find some quests you can start right now.

Quests with no Fishing Requirements

Quests with Fishing Requirements

Fishing Tools

When fishing you’ll need to use a variety of tools depending on the fish you want to catch. Before training the skill, you should have all of them in your bank or attached to your toolbelt. This will save you time as you won’t need to scramble for items when you have time to train fishing. 

The table below will showcase the main fishing tools you’ll use to train the skill. Although our training methods will not require all the tools listed, it’s great to have if you want to catch specific fish later on.

Bonus Equipment

This section covers the best items that will aid your fishing experience. These items can boost your experience rates, improve fish caught per hour, or temporarily increase your fishing level. Make sure to go out of your way to acquire them since the items can make fishing more enjoyable to train.

Fishing Outfits

RS3 features two fishing outfits that you can receive from the intervention skill or treasure chests. Let’s take a look at what they do exactly.

Fishing Outfit

The fishing outfit gives a 1% extra experience boost for each piece equipped. Having the full set will give a total boost of 5% bonus fishing experience.

• Fishing Hat – 1%
• Fishing Jacket – 1%
• Fishing Waders – 1%
• Fishing Boots 1%
• Total set bonus 1%

Shark Outfit

There are three shark outfits – basic, burnt, and tiger. They are created from shark fragments that are gathered from training fishing. The fragments are awarded every 5 minutes when training to players who have level 70 fishing. The shark outfits are made by discovering the invention blueprint, requiring 20 invention and 80 fishing. 

Having the full set of the shark outfit will provide unique features such as:

• 5% increased chance of catching fish
• You will not aggro creatures when fishing in the living rock caverns
• 5% extra fishing experience
• Can choose to destroy fish when catching them or keep them in your inventory.

Furthermore, players can combine the basic, burnt, and tiger outfits to create a fury shark outfit. The newly created outfit will give the previous bonuses with some additional benefits.

• Increases chances of catching fish by 7%
• 10% chance of catching 2 fishes at once
• Gives a 70% chance of not using bait when fishing

Familiars

There are four fishing-specific familiars you can summon to receive bonuses when training. They are not a huge requirement when fishing but will help tremendously if you have the summoning level to use them.

Skillchompas

Skillchompas increase the rate you catch fish at, letting you gain more experience per hour. You can equip them or place them in your inventory. Every time you fish, a skillchompa will be used, regardless of catching anything. 

Moreover, using this item will grant 10% more experience for each successful catch and 5% bonus XP if unsuccessful. While fishing, you’ll use roughly 1-2k skillchompas per hour, so this method can become costly.

Fishing Urns

Urns offer additional experience when training fishing. This item is held in your inventory and fills up when training the skill. Once the urn reaches 100%, you can teleport it and receive experience based on the type. However, only one earn can be filled at a time, so you cannot fill your inventory with used urns to earn XP. Thankfully, uncharged urns are stackable, so you won’t need to go on banking runs to take out the item. 

Fishing Auras

Call of the sea auras are temporary boosts that increase catch rates. Typically, they last for an hour but can be prolonged with vis wax. The auras are bought with loyalty points obtained from being an RS3 member. 

There are 5 call of the sea auras that players can buy. However, you cannot go straight to tier 5 and must buy each tier beforehand. This means you’ll need to spend 230,000 loyalty points to receive the highest tier.

Scrimshaw

Scrimshaws are items used in the pocket slot that increase chances of catching a big fish. The scrimshaw tier will determine the likelihood of attracting a big fish.

• Whopper-baiting scrimshaw
  • 15% chance of attracting big fish
  • 3-hour duration
  • Level 70 fishing required to use
• Superior whopper-baiting scrimshaw
  • 20% chance of attracting big fash
  • 4-hour duration
  • Level 80 fishing required to use

In addition, using scrimshaws will provide bonus experience based on the fish caught. However, the bonuses are restricted to several fishes.

Archaeology Relics

Players with 117 Archaeology can use the Inspire Effort relic power to increase fishing experience by 2%.

Torstol Incense Sticks

Torstol incense sticks give a 0.5% increase in fishing experience. The sticks’ efficiency will increase gradually over time to 2% bonus XP. However, you can overload the sticks, consuming six at once to receive maximum bonuses without a waiting period. 

Perfect Juju Potions

The perfect juju fishing potion increases the chance of catching fish by 5% for 1 hour. The best way to acquire the potion is at the Grand Exchange for roughly 150k GP.

How To Train Fishing In RS3

Fishing is a very easy skill to understand because it doesn’t have many components. Most often, you’ll need a tool, bait, and a fishing spot to train. We’ll tell you where to train and which tools to use to make the process easier to understand. Alternatively, you can open the world map that discloses all the fishing areas.

When you come to a fishing spot, you’ll see that specific water spots will have bubbles flowing to the surface. This indicates that a player can fish there with the correct setup. To train the skill, all you need to do is click on the bubbling area with your cursor, and the character will do the rest. 

Fastest P2P RS3 Fishing Guide

This section will go over the fastest way to train fishing. Therefore, you won’t make any money as often you’ll need to drop the caught fish to save time on bank runs. The training methods below are great if you have a goal in mind and want to get there as soon as possible. For example, reaching level 76 to access shark fishing.  This is my favorite way to gain fishing experience quickly, but it can still take a while to increase levels at times. Therefore, I suggest going out of your way to acquire experience-boosting items to make the skill faster.

Levels 1 – 10: Crayfish

To start the skill, you’ll be catching crayfish in Lumbridge. The XP rates are slow to start, so you’ll be here for at least 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, you can catch shrimps with a small fishing net.

Requirements:

• Level 1 Fishing
• A Crayfish Cage

Locations:

• West of Fred the Farmer
• East of Lumbridge Church

Levels 10 – 20: Herrings

To fish herrings, you’ll need to take out your fishing rod and a decent stack of bait. I prefer this method to sardines due to the higher experience per catch, although at first, herrings are slow to fish.

Requirements:

• Level 10 Fishing
• Fishing Rod
• Bait

Locations:

• South-east of Draynor bank
• South of Al Kharid bank
• East of Lumbridge Swamp

Levels 20 – 48: Trout and Salmon

Now we’re getting to the faster training methods. I love fishing for trout and salmon because they are excellent food sources for PVP and PVM at mid-tier levels. Also, you can use them for training cooking efficiently. Afterward, you can drop the caught or cooked fish to save time on bank runs.

At first, you will only catch trouts since they require a minimum of level 20 fishing. Once you reach level 30 fishing, you’ll be able to catch salmon from the same bubbling spots.

Requirements:

• Level 20 Fishing
• Fly Fishing Rod
• Feathers

Locations:

• South of the goblin house in Lumbridge
• East of Barbarian Village by the bridge to cross into Varrock
• Shilo Village river

Levels 48 – 99/120: Barbarian Fishing

At level 48 fishing, you gain access to the fastest training method in RS3 – Barbarian Fishing. This is similar to trout and salmon, but instead, you’ll be catching their leaping counterparts. First, you’ll need the barbarian rod that is obtained from Otto. He is found east of the Grand Tree in the Tree Gnome Stronghold region.

Talk to Otto and learn about barbarian fishing to receive the rod and access to the fishing spots. All leaping fish have agility or strength requirements, so you may need to level them first before fishing.

When you are catching fish, you’ll want to place them on your action bar. This lets you drop a full inventory quickly, improving experience per hour. There are no banks nearby, so dropping what you’ve caught is the only way to make barbarian fishing viable till level 99.

Leaping Fish Requirements

• Level 48 Fishing – Leaping Trout: Requires level 30 agility and strength.
• Level 58 Fishing – Leaping Salmon: Requires level 30 agility and strength.
• Level 70 Fishing – Leaping Sturgeon: Requires level 45 agility and strength.

Requirements:

• Barbarian Fishing Rod
• Feathers

Location:

• Otto’s Grotto. North of the waterfall and east of the Grand Tree.

Money Making RS3 Fishing Guide

RuneScape 3 requires having a huge stack of GP to buy decent gear, food, and potions. Therefore, I’d recommend going the money-making route to generate profits while training the skill. However, the time to reach level 99 fishing will take significantly longer, but you’ll earn more than 100 million GP.

Furthermore, you can mix the fastest and most profitable training methods. For example, I used the barbarian fishing technique till level 76 because I wanted to access sharks. This allowed me to skip past the slow levels and fish the most expensive fish. Nevertheless, you will make money regardless of starting from level 1 fishing or level 76.

Levels 1 – 10: Crayfish

Since there are limited options for starting fishing, you’ll have to catch crayfish until level 10. 

Requirements:

• Level 1 Fishing
• A Crayfish Cage

Locations:

• West of Fred the Farmer
• East of Lumbridge Church

Levels 10 – 20: Herrings

From levels 10 to 20, you’ll want to catch herrings because they offer the best XP. Drop the fish since they are worth low GP, and you’ll catch more expensive types later.

Requirements:

• Level 10 Fishing
• Fishing Rod
• Bait

Locations:

• South-east of Draynor bank
• South of Al Kharid bank
• East of Lumbridge Swamp

Levels 20 – 40: Trout and Salmon

Like the fastest method, you’ll be catching salmon and trout until level 40. This is the final stage of quickly leveling fishing to access the most profitable fish. Again, you’ll want to drop or cook the fish since the locations do not have banks nearby.

Requirements:

• Level 20 Fishing
• Fly Fishing Rod
• Feathers

Locations:

• South of the goblin house in Lumbridge
• East of Barbarian Village by the bridge to cross into Varrock
• Shilo Village river

Levels 40 – 62: Lobsters

Now we’re getting into the money-making training methods that will earn you decent GP. Lobsters are excellent until level 62 as they are quick to catch and provide decent XP rates. Moreover, lobsters are usually crowded, so you can chat with other players to pass the time. I love lobsters for this reason, as I’ve met many RuneScape friends through fishing. Don’t be scared to ask, “What’s your fishing level”. Also, F2P and P2P players can use this training method.

Requirements:

• Level 40 Fishing
• Lobster Pot

Locations:

• Northeast of Karamja
• Catherby Beaches

Levels 62 – 76: Monkfish

Monkfish are amazing for generating GP since they are always in high demand. However, you will need to complete the Swan Song quest to enter the Picastoris Fishing Colony. Therefore, if you are a skiller, I’d recommend staying at Lobsters. 

Requirements:

• Level 62 Fishing
• Small Fishing Net

Location:

• Picastoris Fishing Colony

Levels 76 – 90: Sharks

Sharks are one of the best ways to train fishing while making money because they have minimal requirements. All you need is a harpoon obtained from various fishing shops or the Grand Exchange. Also, I prefer sharks because they are available in the Fishing Guild, which has a bank nearby. This means you’ll save so much time on bank runs and gain more experience than other methods.

Requirements:

• Level 76 Fishing
• Harpoon

Locations:

• Fishing Guild
• Catherby beach

Levels 90 – 99/120: Rocktails

Although these are the last 9 levels, you’re still not even at 50% of maxing the skill. Fun Fact: Once you hit level 93, you’ll reach half of the XP needed to reach level 99. 

Therefore, you’ll have plenty of time to catch thousands of rocktails until you max the skill. This is where you’ll make the most GP, as each raw rocktail is worth 2.2k gold. 

The only location you can catch rocktails is at the living rock caverns within the Dwarven Mines. The creatures there are highly aggressive, so make sure to use a dedicated rock caverns world. Currently, the available options are worlds 84 and 77.

Requirements:

• Level 90 Fishing
• Fishing Rod
• Living Minerals

Locations:

• Living Rock Caverns

RS3 Fishing Tips

Tip 1 – Use Empty Worlds: Unless you want to make new friends, you should use empty worlds when fishing. You don’t want to compete with other players for resources and reduce your hourly XP rates.

Tip 2 – Use Buffs: It’s easy to grab the essential tools and run to a fish spot without doing any research. However, RS3 offers plenty of items to improve your fishing experience with minimal requirements. At the top of this guide, you can see the best fishing buffs that you can acquire.

Tip 3 – Cook: If you are fishing just for the levels and don’t want to bank your items, consider cooking the fish. This allows you to train two skills at once without buying the raw materials. However, it will take considerably longer to reach level 99 fishing, but you will be training cooking simultaneously. 

Tip 4 – Quest: I highly recommend questing to earn fishing experience because it’s a unique way to gain levels. Most likely, you’ll want to complete high-level quests to access new regions, and some of the listed quests are requirements to access the top-tier storylines. 

Tip 5 – Augments: The new invention skill allows players to buff specific items like the fishing rod. Players can add unique perks like faster fishing and better XP rates. Therefore, you’ll want to incorporate augments into your training sessions to receive the best benefits.

FAQs

Summary

To summarize, we’ve covered everything you need to know about fishing in RuneScape 3. This version of RS has an extensive list of useful items and multiple training methods that can make it confusing to train. I struggled with fishing at first, but fortunately for you, I’ve done the research to save you time. Decide which training style you want to go for – money-making or speed.

Fishing is a vital skill in RuneScape because it’s the main source of food when fighting monsters, training slayer, or during PVP. Effectively, you’ll be supplying the community with a helpful resource while generating profits. On the other hand, fishing is essential to train if you’re an ironman player since you cannot use the Grand Exchange. I hope you thoroughly enjoyed reading this guide and will use the information given when playing.

Looking for more interesting readings? Check out:

• RS3 Senntisten Quest Review: All You Need To Know!
• RS3 Money Making Overview [2022]: All You Need To Know
• RS3 Combat Overview For Beginners

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Martynas Pupkevicius

Martnyas wants ot help other Runescape members express their creativity to its full potential. She’s willing to help other people in the Runescape community achieve their goals while playing, which is why she’s dedicated to breaking down the most common challenges and questions Runescape members run into. She’s got the passion and experience to deliver high-quality content to all of our readers, no matter how new they are to playing Runescape.

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