Fishing is easily one of the slowest skills to train in the entire game, and is a difficult skill to get to 99.
And there’s a divide in the community between those looking to maximize fishing experience, and those looking to maximize profit. Since fishing can be a very lucrative way to stack that gold!
But which methods are most worth your time? Let’s take a look and go over some of the most useful fishing methods in OSRS.
Note: I also would recommend acquiring the angler’s outfit from the fishing Trawler Minigame before doing any fishing, since each piece of the set provides extra experience while fishing!
5. Aerial Fishing
Aerial Fishing is great for sure, since the experience rates are decent, and you get to train two skills at once (Fishing and Hunter).
But Lake Molch is the only place you can do aerial fishing, and you’ll need a minimum of level 35 Hunter and 43 Fishing to start here anyway.
And while you’re fishing here you have the rare chance to obtain Molch Pearls, which can be used to buy a bunch of unique reward items such as the Fish Sack, and various Pearl fishing rods.
Starting off, you can expect experience rates of roughly 18k Fishing to 25k Hunter experience per hour – which isn’t too bad!
At level 99 this drastically increases to around 60k Fishing and 80k Hunter experience per hour. Not too shabby, but there certainly could be other methods to spend time on.
Where to Go: You can begin Ariel Fishing at Lake Molch in Kourend.
4. Sacred Eels
Sacred Eels offer players the only other way to obtain Zulrah scales, other than by killing Zulrah.
So these eels are quite popular as a money maker.
While you’ll receive fewer scales fishing than by killing Zulrah, it’s safer, and costs no resources besides bait.
You can expect to receive around 20k Fishing and 24k Cooking experience per hour, while also netting a profit of around 1400 Zulrah scales – which is worth about 180k.
Just note that you’ll also need a relatively high Fishing level of 87 to fish up these eels. But it is very AFK.
And with a level 72 Cooking, you’ll be able to skin the eels immediately for instant scales without leaving the area. This provides some marginal Cooking experience too.
Players should also note that the higher their Cooking level, the more scales they’ll receive! So if you’re in this for the money it’s worth getting those cooking levels up.
Where to Go: Head over to Zul-Andra near where you start the Zulrah fight. This will require the completion of the Regicide quest to access. Eels require a Fishing Rod to catch.
3. Minnows
Minnows provide the best way to get sharks in OSRS.
It’s more click intensive than using a harpoon, which is very AFK. But fishing for minnows provides far more sharks per hour.
Experience rates here are a bit low, and you can expect around 15k Fishing experience at level 82 per hour.
This maxes out at about 25k experience per hour at level 99.
However, profit is pretty great, since you can expect to catch 375 sharks an hour at level 82 Fishing. This can even get as high as 625 sharks per hour at level 99!
So that means your profit can range from 250k – 416k per hour by fishing up minnows. Well worth it.
I would recommend using a Rada’s blessing here for additional catches.
Where to Go: To catch minnows you’ll need a minimum of level 82 in fishing, and a full Anglers outfit. You should then head over to the Fishing guild and take the row boat to the minnows platform. And remember to take a small net, since minnows require a small net to catch.
2. Monkfish
Requiring just a level 62 Fishing, Monkfish offer decent experience and money, providing a great balance between the two.
Expect to catch around 200 – 400 of these per hour, depending on your Fishing Level.
On average, you could expect to receive about 300 of these per hour. Granting you around 35k experience per hour too.
This would be worth around 90k in gp, meaning the potential income really isn’t too shabby.
Overall, you catch Monkfish faster than harpooning sharks, plus they provide more experience, and they’re much more AFK than minnows.
Many people will do Monkfish all the way to 99 Fishing too – since you can watch a movie on the side and chill!
Where to Go: Monkfish are only obtainable at the Piscatoris Fishing Colony, which requires that you complete the quest “Swan Song”. This is a Master level quest, so be ready for quite the fight at the end! Monkfish require a small net to catch.
1. Barbarian Fishing
Barbarian Fishing is the most commonly used method to get to level 99, since the experience is really good and you’ll be training multiple skills at the same time.
Barb Fishing is available starting from level 48. There are multiple ways to train this too, since you can simply choose to AFK it, or use the 3-tick method to maximize efficiency.
But the 3-tick techniques can be very click intensive.
Without the 3-tick method, expect about 50k experience from level 70 fishing, and 90k-100k experience per hour from level 99 fishing.
You should also expect to gain some minor Agility and Strength experience, roughly 5k agility and 8k Strength per hour, from level 80 onward.
These experience rates are the best in the game for fishing by a mile.
However, there’s no money made here, since all fish are dropped.
Where to Go: Barbarian fishing can be done by Otto’s Grotto, or just outside the Chambers of Xeric. You’ll need to finish barbarian training first before you can start Barbarian fishing. Also you’ll need to use a unique Heavy Rod found under Otto’s bed for this style of fishing.
