OSRS Fishing Guide - Fastest 1-99

Fishing is one of the only skills in Old School Runescape that can be done AFK. You just use a fishing net or fishing rod, attach some specific lures/baits, and you just wait in a single spot until some fish come to you. While you can certainly level up your Fishing skill this way, it is not the fastest method.

If you are looking for a comprehensive OSRS fishing guide that tells you where to go to get the fastest experience per hour, you've come to the right place!

This guide will give you all the information you need to reach 99 Fishing without a hitch. There are regular training methods like using fishing nets to catch fish at specific spots. You can find other training methods as well, including tick manipulation, fly fishing, barbarian fishing, and fighting a terrifying sea spirit.

Why Train Fishing?

So, why should you train your fishing skill in the first place? Well, there are a few reasons. The first is that it is one of the requirements for the completion of the "Recipe for Disaster" quest. When completed, this quest rewards you with the Barrows Gloves, which is the second-best pair of gloves in terms of giving Strength, Ranged, and Magic bonuses in Old School Runescape.

Another good reason why you should train fishing is that it is a good way to earn gold coins. At level 90, you can earn as much as 430,000 GP per hour depending on whether you have a Rada's Blessing or not.

And lastly, if you are a completionist and you want to obtain some of the game's best items, such as the Quest Cape and Achievement Diary Cape, you must attain 96 Fishing in order to get them all.

This comprehensive OSRS fishing guide will not only show the best methods for faster experience gain, it also provides information on how you can get a ton of GP per hour.

Items That You Will Need

Even though you can technically level your fishing skill completely AFK by going to a fishing spot and casting your fishing rod there, it is not the fastest method of gaining fishing experience.

In order to maximize your time and get the fastest experience per hour, here is a list of the items that you need:

• Barbarian Rod: This is the heavier version of the fishing rod, which you will need in order to engage in Barbarian Fishing. Unlike the regular fishing rod, the Barbarian Rod can utilize different kinds of bait, including fish offcuts, feathers, roe, and caviar. You can get your hands on this thing by talking to Otto Godblessed. You can find him in Otto's Grotto located southwest of the entrance to the Ancient Cavern. Before talking to him, your Fishing skill must be at least level 48 so that he can teach you the art of Barbarian Fishing. Once the training begins, you can find this fishing rod underneath his bed. Fortunately for you, he lets you take it free of charge! The reason why you need the Barbarian Rod is that it is the only thing that is capable of catching special kinds of fish, including Leaping Sturgeon, Leaping Trout, and Leaping Salmon.
  
• Angler's Outfit: The Angler's Outfit is a set of items that, when equipped, provides a 2.5% boost in fishing experience gain. A considerable amount of time is required for you to complete the set. To obtain the full equipment, you must partake in the Fishing Trawler minigame. The contribution meter should be at or above 50 points if you want to have a chance of acquiring a piece of the Angler's Outfit after each game. You may need to finish the minigame a number of times to get all of the four set pieces, which include the Angler Hat, Top, Waders (pants), and Boots. Alternatively, you can do some aerial fishing to acquire Molch Pearls - a type of currency that can be exchanged in Alry the Angler's shop located in the middle of Lake Molch. Another benefit of the Angler's Outfit is that you can gain access to a special area inside the Fishing Guild when you talk to Kylie Minnow. This area is abundant in Minnows - a type of fish that you can sell for tons of GP.
  
• Dragon Harpoon: One of the best items that you can equip to level up your Fishing skill, the Dragon Harpoon grants a 20% increased chance to catch a fish successfully compared to the regular harpoon. Not only that but it has a special attack called "Fishstabber" that gives you a +3 level boost to Fishing as well. The Dragon Harpoon is a necessary item to craft the Infernal Harpoon and the Crystal Harpoon, which is why you need to get your hands on it as soon as possible. You can acquire it from Wyrms and Shadow Wyrms. This is the best harpoon to use in Barbarian Fishing until you can get your hands on the Crystal Harpoon.
  
• Infernal Harpoon: When used in fishing, you have a 33% chance of instantly cooking the fish that you've caught, granting some experience points to your Cooking skill in the process. You can acquire the Infernal Harpoon by using a Smouldering Stone on a Dragon Harpoon.

• Crystal Harpoon: Considered the fastest harpoon in the game, the Crystal Harpoon can be yours by using the Singing Bowl and combining 120 Crystal Shards, a Crystal Tool Seed, and the Dragon Harpoon. You need to complete the Song of the Elves quest if you want to craft this thing. What makes this particular harpoon unique is that it has a small chance of turning fish caught in the Tempoross Cove into Crystallised Harpoonfish, which grants 20% experience points when used as ammo against Tempoross. This harpoon can be charged using Crystal Shards up to a maximum of 20,000. When all charges are depleted, it turns back into the D. Harpoon. The Crystal Harpoon should be used, especially in the later levels where you will utilize various tick manipulation techniques, such as 2 tick harpooning and 3 tick Barbarian Fishing.
  
• Tackle Box: This thing allows you to store all of the items that you need for fishing in one convenient place! The items that you can put inside include Rada's Blessings, fishing bait, harpoons, and fishing rods, just to name a few. You can get a Tackle Box as a possible reward for defeating Tempoross.
  
• Rada's Blessing: Acquired by completing the Kourend & Kebos Diary Achievements, Rada's Blessing gives you a small chance of catching an additional fish. Although the extra fish doesn't grant fishing XP, it is great if you want to earn heaps of gold coins while leveling. Completing the Kourend & Kebos Diary rewards you with Rada's Blessing 4, which grants an 8% chance of catching an additional fish, among other bonuses.
• Spirit Flakes: Another notable stuff that can be obtained by defeating Tempoross, the Spirit Flakes serve a few different purposes. First, they grant a huge 50% boost to catching an additional fish, which stacks with Rada's Blessing. Second, you can talk to Gita Prymes in the Ruins of Unkah to convert the regular Angler's Outfit into its "spirit" version, provided that you have enough Spirit Flakes to do so. You will need about 4,800 if you want to upgrade the entire set. The Spirit Angler's Outfit alleviates the need to have a rope in your inventory when fighting Tempoross because it can be used to tether yourself to the masts and totem poles. The third and final reason why you'd want to get some Spirit Flakes is that you can use them to turn the regular Heron pet into a majestic Great Blue Heron.
  
• Fish Barrel: To ensure that you gain a lot of experience per hour, you need to have a Fish Barrel with you. This thing can store 28 pieces of raw fish, allowing you to stay in the fishing spot for longer periods of time before heading to the bank to empty the container. This can be yours as a possible reward for defeating Tempoross.
• Feathers: Fly fishing is another training method you can employ to level your skill. In order to catch Trout, you will need to use a feather as bait. This item is available in some areas in Old School Runescape, such as the Shantay Pass Shop, Rellekka's Fish Stall in Fremennik, Ava's Odds and Ends store, etc.
  
• Admiral Pie: When you achieve a high enough level in whatever skill in OSRS, you get better at it and you have access to items that will make your leveling journey a lot easier. That said, the Admiral Pie is an item that grants a temporary 5-level boost to your Fishing skill when consumed. It can heal 16 HP as well. Use the Admiral Pie whenever you do the 3 tick method for best results.
• Games Necklace: This item teleports you to the Barbarian Outpost when used, where you will find an NPC that teaches you the ways of Barbarian Fishing. The Games Necklace can be yours by casting a Lvl-1 Enchant spell on a Sapphire Necklace.
• Lobster Pots: If you are in a free to play world in Old School Runescape, you can get yourself some Lobster Pots from the fish store so that you can capture Lobsters at level 40.
• Fairy Ring: This item is pretty useful when heading to specific locations. For example, you can use a fairy ring with the code d-k-p to instantly teleport to the Karambwan fishing spot in Karamja. To acquire this ring, you must complete the Fairytale I - Growing Pains quest to get the second part of the quest chain called Fairytale II - Cure a Queen. You don't need to complete the second quest; you just have to get permission from the Fairy Godfather to use the ring teleportation system.

Fastest Leveling Methods

Now that you know what items you need to get to aid you in your leveling journey, this section will talk about the fastest training methods. Refer to this part of the OSRS fishing guide if you want to reach 99 fishing in far less time than other methods.

With that said, here are the best things that you can do to gain the fastest experience rates:

Questing

You're probably ready to catch fish with a small fishing net in hand. But, if you want to level up immediately without the boring stuff, the best thing that you can do in the beginning is to complete some quests.

There are a few quests that you need to complete in order to fast track your progress. The first is the Sea Slug quest, which you can take by talking to Caroline slightly north of Witchaven. Completing this quest gives you access to the Fishing Platform where you can engage in small net fishing. Take note that you have to have a level 30 Firemaking skill in order to get this quest. The Sea Slug quest grants you 7,175 Fishing XP, instantly propelling you to level 24.

Sea Slug Quest Rewards

The next quest that you'd want to finish is the Fishing Contest. This requires level 10 Fishing, which is why completing the Sea Slug quest before this one makes sense. Anyway, the Fishing Contest is a very short quest, but the rewards that you'll get are pretty good, especially later on. For instance, completing this quest gives you the ability to catch Minnows in the Fishing Guild, which comes in handy later on.

Fishing Contest Quest Rewards

For the next quest, Freeing Pirate Pete, you will need to have your Cooking skill leveled to at least 31. Finishing the Freeing Pirate Pete quest gives you 1,000 Fishing XP.

When you finish all of the three quests mentioned above, you should be at level 27 Fishing. At this level, you can skip using a small fishing net to catch shrimp in favor of fly fishing.

Here are the other quests that grant fishing experience:

Fly Fishing

Before you can do fly fishing, you will need to get your hands on a fly fishing rod and some feathers. You can purchase a fly fishing rod from Gerrant's Fishy Business. This shop is located in Port Sarim. While you're here, buy some feathers as well.

Gerrant's Fishy Business at Port Sarim

After buying a fly fishing rod and some feathers, head to any of the fly fishing spots in Old School Runescape. Some of the best fly fishing locations in the game include the goblin area in Lumbridge and the small area in Shilo Village.

Fly Fishing Spot in Lumbridge

Fly Fishing Spot in Shilo Village

If you can, equip the complete Angler's Outfit as the set provides you with a considerable 2.5% boost in XP gain. Acquiring the entire outfit takes a long time to do, so don't worry if you still don't have the set completed at this time. Just take it as a "nice-to-have" instead of something mandatory.

Anyway, fly fishing is really easy to do. When you have the fly fishing rod and some feathers, head to your favorite fly fishing spot and look for Salmon or Trout. Then, once you find some, click the icon and select "Lure Fishing Spot."

If you are in Shilo Village, there's a nearby bank that you can go to after catching some Salmon if you want to deposit them. Otherwise, you can just shift drop them to continue fly fishing. Repeat the process until you get enough levels to do the next leveling method.

So, how much XP can you expect to gain from doing this? At level 20, you can get as much as 20,000 experience per hour. At level 30, 25,000 per hour. And at level 40, about 35,000 per hour.

Barbarian Fishing

Once you've reached level 48, you can now proceed to Barbarian Fishing. This method is considered by many Old School Runescape players as one of the best for faster experience gain.

To get things started, you must talk to an NPC named Otto Godblessed. He can be found in Otto's Grotto located just north of Baxtorian Falls. You can get here easily by using a Games Necklace and teleporting to the Barbarian Outpost. After that, just head a bit down south.

Otto's Grotto at Baxtorian Falls

After arriving at Otto's Grotto, talk to Otto and ask him about fishing rod methods. After giving you a short introduction about Barbarian Fishing, go to his bed and search underneath for a Barbarian Fishing Rod. It's important to keep in mind that you have to have level 48 Fishing, 15 Strength, and 15 Agility before you speak to Otto. If these conditions are not met, you will not be able to proceed. Should you wish to complete the entire Barbarian Training quest, you need to have level 55 Fishing, 35 Strength, and 30 Agility at the very least.

With a Barbarian Fishing Rod in hand, you can now begin! Head to the nearest body of water from Otto's Grotto and find a suitable fishing spot. The fishes you will find here are Leaping Trout (level 48), Leaping Salmon (Level 58), and Leaping Sturgeon (level 70). Now, there are two leveling styles you can employ. You can simply do some AFK leveling here by going to a fishing spot and leaving your character there. But, since you're looking for the fastest ways to level up, you must do the tick manipulation method instead.

Tick manipulation is a technique in OSRS that lets you cancel the animation of an action by taking advantage of server ticks, thereby allowing you to perform it again without having to wait for it to finish on its own. Each server tick lasts 0.6 seconds in real-world time, so you want to perform something that goes in line with the desired action you want to cancel. This is a very useful thing to learn, especially when trying to master skills in the game. The process of tick manipulation can vary depending on what you're trying to do. In this case, you will need the 3 tick method since fishing needs three ticks to "cancel" its animation.

To do the 3 tick method, the first thing that you want to do is right-click on the inventory icon and then choose "Configure shift-click." This lets you change the behavior of certain items when you press/hold shift and left-click on them. Once that's done, right-click on the items that you want to configure. For this OSRS fishing guide, we will use the Swamp Tar and Guam Leaf as an example, though you are free to use other items for 3 ticking, such as fletching mahogany or teak logs using a knife, and utilizing Kebbit Claws on Vambraces.

That said, right-click on both the Swamp Tar and Guam Leaf and set the shift-click action to "Use" rather than drop. After that, start fishing by left-clicking on a fishing spot. Then, wait 1.8 seconds and use the Swamp Tar on a Guam Leaf to perform the 3 tick action. From there, just repeat the process by left-clicking on the fishing spot again and using a Swamp Tar on a Guam Leaf. This is how you do tick manipulation for skilling!

It takes some time to master the technique. To help you get the timing right, you can use the RuneLite plugin called Visual Metronome. This plugin shows a number on the screen that indicates server ticks. Use this as a crutch until you get the hang of it. If you're not using RuneLite, you can pay attention to the main screen instead. Once the fishing XP pops up, that's the time to use Swamp Tar on the Guam Leaf. Although this is not an accurate approach, it can still aid you in mastering the technique.

Bear in mind that tick manipulation is extremely click intensive. Fortunately, you can do other leveling methods if you get bored or tired with this one.

Now that you've learned tick manipulation, you can do 3 tick Barbarian Fishing in the same area (outside of Otto's Grotto) until level 71. Depending on whether you've mastered the technique or not, you can get anywhere between 50,000 to 70,000 experience per hour.

Get Your Harpoons Ready

At level 71, you can go 2 tick Harpooning tuna or swordfish at Port Piscarilius. This is another tick manipulation method that requires more setup than the previous one mentioned above. Basically, the idea here is to have two monsters attacking you while you go fishing in the northwest section of Port Piscarilius.

To set things up, look for two rats in the area. If you're using RuneLite, make sure to enable NPC Indicators so that they will be easier to find. If you've found one, right-click on the rat and then select the "Tag-All Rat" option. What this does is it highlights all of the rats nearby, helping you save a lot of time.

Next, you want to aggro the rats by casting the Confuse spell on them. Once they're aggroed, lure them toward the fishing spot. At this point, equip a short bow and then set its parameters to "Rapid Attack" and enable Auto-retaliate for this method to work. You don't need any ammo here; only the short bow.

Now for positioning. The correct position is one where you're situated in the middle of the rats. To do this, have them lined up just one block away from your desired fishing spot.

2 Tick Harpooning (Lining Up the Rats)

While one rat is attacking you, immediately right-click on the offending enemy and choose "Walk Here." Doing this prompts your character to move to the space in between the two rats. When done correctly, you'll be situated directly on top of the desired fishing spot.

2 Tick Harpooning (Correct Position)

The reason why it's called "2 tick Harpooning" is that the attacks of these two rats are separated by two game ticks. So each time two ticks have elapsed, you click on the fishing spot to harpoon a tuna or swordfish and that's it!

If you're not using Visual Metronome, you can tell if two ticks have passed when you see the damage indicator (or damage splat). Once it appears, immediately left-click on the fishing spot. Alternatively, listen for the rats' squeak because they do that every time they attack you.

Ideally, you want to do the 2 tick Harpooning only if you have access to the Crystal Harpoon. Otherwise, you can stick to Barbarian Fishing outside of Otto's Grotto until level 99 Fishing.

You need to master the technique because this gives you the best experience in the game. At level 71, you can get as much as 90,000 experience per hour! You can even get faster experience rates per hour when you just drop the fish you've caught, rather than wasting time going to the bank.

Battle the Spirit of the Sea

Using tick manipulation when 3 tick Barbarian Fishing or 2 tick Harpooning yields great experience rates per hour, but the downside is that the process is very click intensive. If you want to take a break from that and mix up your leveling journey a bit, you can face the Spirit of the Sea, Tempoross,starting Level 35.

You can fight Tempoross by heading to the Ruins of Unkah and boarding the ship anchored at the end of the dock. Shortly after the ship departs, you'll arrive at the Tempoross Cove. The Spirit of the Sea can be fought solo or in a group, though I suggest that you play with others first so that you will be familiar with the encounter.

Sea Spirit Dock in Ruins of Unkah

Anyway, there are several things you need to obtain in order for the fight to be successful, such as:

• Rope
• Buckets
• Hammer
• Harpoon (preferably the higher level ones)
• Small Fishing Net

Unlike the other bosses in the game, Tempoross can only be downed by using your Fishing skill, though doing some cooking certainly helps. It is very useful to be familiar with the ships and the layout of the Tempoross Cove so that you will know where important points of interest are located.

That said, the fight has two phases. In the first phase, you must drain the boss' energy by loading up the ship's cannons with some harpoonfish and firing them at Tempoross. You can farm some harpoonfish in the nearby waters. Sometimes, certain areas on the map will have some harpoonfish jumping out of the water. This spot gives you a chance to net two harpoonfish at a time, which is quite useful when facing the boss on your own.

Once you've captured enough, you can cook them in the cooking shrine at the center of the map. While you can technically fire raw harpoonfish, the cooked variants deal more damage to Tempoross' energy. When its energy is fully depleted, Tempoross will submerge underwater, thus marking the beginning of phase two.

In the second phase, you will find small whirlpools at the end of the docks. You must do some fishing here to deplete Tempoross' actual HP. When its health is fully depleted, you have successfully won the encounter. However, if it still has some HP left after 30 seconds, the boss will emerge. When this happens, you have to repeat phase one again until its health goes down to zero.

Tempoross

Tempoross has three attacks that you need to be aware of. When the message, "A colossal wave closes," appears in the chat box, the screen will slowly turn to blue, signifying that the boss is ready to attack you with a devastating wave. To avoid getting washed away and losing some of your items in the process, you must use a rope to tether yourself to the ship's mast or to a nearby totem pole. The rope is no longer required if you have the Spirit Angler's Outfit.

In addition, when you see the message, "A strong wind blows as clouds roll in," Tempoross will summon large gray clouds that will attack you and your group with lightning bolts. While you don't take damage from these bolts, they will cause fire to the ship. Use the buckets to douse the fires with water. Extinguish fires as fast as possible because they can spread fast if left to their own devices. To help you with that, use the Humidify spell to instantly fill your bucket.

Lastly, Tempoross can manipulate the water, creating a large swirling pillar that it can launch to disrupt the cannons from firing. If you are hit by the torrent, you get stunned as well. You can get out of harm's way by simply heading to the other ship.

It is recommended to use the Infernal Harpoon for this fight because you'll have a chance of instantly cooking the harpoonfish once captured, saving you a lot of time. It should also go without saying that you need to utilize the harpoon's special attack to gain a valuable +3 boost to your Fishing skill.

After defeating the boss, you'll be given a Reward Permit based on the number of points you've accrued during the encounter. A Reward Permit is given for the first 2,000 points and you get another one every 700 points that you gain thereafter. You will also need a small fishing net to get stuff from the reward pool. Some of the rewards worth mentioning are Spirit Flakes, Tome of Water (Empty), Dragon Harpoon, and a cute little Tempoross pet called Tiny Tempor.

Now, if you want to get the best experience rate per hour, you want to fight Tempoross solo or in a small group. Furthermore, you can skip the entire cooking process and just use raw harpoonfish until you defeat the boss successfully. If you're going this route, equipping the Crystal Harpoon yields better results. You get 70,000 fishing experience per hour at level 70 which increases to 100,000 at level 90+.

On the other hand, if you want to gain considerable amounts of XP and accrue more points than the previous route, you can cook all of the harpoonfish you've captured. For this reason, equipping an Infernal Harpoon makes sense as it helps reduce the number of fish you have to cook in the shrine. The experience rate per hour using this training method is only 50,000 to 70,000, but you gain significantly more points. This is the fastest way if you want to get as many Reward Permits as you can.

Fastest F2P Leveling Methods

Most of the information mentioned above only works for OSRS members. If you are a completely free to play player, you want to go a slightly different route.

At level 1, you want to get a small fishing net and head to the southeast portion of Lumbridge. Here, you will find some shrimps and anchovies, which you will need to capture using the net. The experience rates here are respectable in the early levels at 3,000 to 10,000 fishing experience per hour. Catch shrimp and anchovies until you reach level 20.

Shrimp and Anchovies Area in Lumbridge

At level 20, head to the Barbarian Village and you're pretty much set here doing some Barbarian Fishing. This is the fastest training method for f2p players in OSRS. Be sure to catch Leaping Trout at level 48, Leaping Salmon at level 58. You can drop fish so that you don't have to spend time going to the bank to maximize exp gain.

Starting at level 40, you can head to Musa Point in Karamja to find and catch some lobsters. The fishing experience rates are low at just 10,000 to 15,000 per hour. However, you can get a good amount of gold coins here by selling them at the Grand Exchange, so it's worth the trade-off.

At level 50, you can start fishing for some swordfish at the same spot. You'll gain around 20,000 to 25,000 fishing experience per hour at the beginning, 35,000 XP per hour at level 75, and 42,000 XP per hour at level 95+.

Lobster/Swordfish Location in Karamja (Musa Point)

Profitable Methods

If you are looking for the fastest ways to gain considerable fishing experience rates (without Barbarian Fishing), while also earning heaps of gold coins per hour when training fishing, then this section covers all of the information you need.

After completing the Swan Song quest, you will gain access to the Piscatoris Fishing Colony, where you can start catching Monkfish at level 62. Even though fishing exp gain is only at 30,000 to 35,000 per hour, this is a relatively AFK training method. But, the biggest reason why you want to catch Monkfish at this level is that you can potentially earn 90,000 to 95,000 GP per hour. To get here, use a fairy ring and input the code a-k-q to be teleported just a bit south from the fishing spot. You can also use a Piscatoris Teleport, assuming that you've purchased some from the Grand Exchange.

Piscatoris Fishing Colony (Monkfish Location)

Once you've reached level 65, you can mix things up a little by catching Karambwan. Again, you do not expect good experience rates here at just 30,000 - 40,000 fishing experience per hour, but it is a semi-AFK method of leveling, so it's a nice change of pace after some time of 3 tick Barbarian Fishing. Having a fairy ring with the code d-k-p certainly helps because it will teleport you directly to the Karambwan fishing spot in Karamja. Keep in mind that you will need a Karambwan Vessel and a raw Karambwanji as bait to start catching Karambwan.

Karambwan Fishing Spot (Fairy Ring DKP)

When you have at least level 82 Fishing, this is where the real money-making begins. Go to the Fishing Guild to capture some Minnows. You can use a Skills Necklace to teleport there directly. To access this area, you must complete the Fishing Contest quest and have the full Angler's Outfit before talking to Kylie Minnow. You will need a small fishing net as well. Anyway, at level 82, you can expect to gain 40,000 to 42,000 fishing experience per hour. Additionally, the amount of gold coins you earn will vary depending on how fast you are. You can get anywhere between 350,000 to 375,000 GP per hour. Wearing the full Angler's Outfit coupled with a Rada's Blessing 4 is a must to maximize exp gain and profit.

Fishing Guild (Minnow Platform)

Besides Minnows, you can also catch anglerfish at level 82. This type of fish is available in the northeastern part of Port Piscarilius, so you will need 100% Piscarilius Favour to get started. Be sure to bring a fish barrel, a fishing rod, and some sandworms as bait. This is another pretty AFK leveling method, though you will only get a measly 20,000 fishing experience per hour. However, the biggest draw here is that you get a ton of gold coins that vary depending on how many times you visit the bank. You can earn anywhere between 400,000 to 430,000 GP per hour!

Port Piscarilius (Anglerfish Location)

Conclusion

So, there you have it! I hope that this OSRS fishing guide has helped you get the best experience rates per hour. Some profitable methods have also been included if you want to earn a considerable amount of GP during the course of your leveling journey. Be sure to equip the best harpoon possible for your level. Ultimately, you want to go for a Crystal Harpoon as soon as you can and an Infernal Harpoon if you want to fight Tempoross. Good luck!