There are a selection of fishing poles that can be used in order to fish. Some poles have a skill modifier and some are now unbreakable (as of 2018).
The Bone Rod is the best Fishing Pole, but it is available by a quest that is only available during the Anniversary season. It is however tradeable. You can possibly borrow one from a friend or find one for sale in the bazaar if you haven't had a chance to do the quest yet.
The next best fishing pole would be Brell's Fishin' Pole. This is summoned from a Fisherman's Companion which is obtained from a relatively simple quest given by Ramos Jerwwan in the Plane of Knowledge, but you must have access to the Plane of Nightmare and the Plan of Valor in order to complete it.
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Once you have a fishing pole (if you aren't using an unbreakable pole, be sure to bring several with you. Expendable poles will break during the course of fishing and will need to be replaced to keep fishing) you'll need to get some bait. Though there are many choices, all bait, including flies, are consumed as you fish. It's probably best to stick to simple, easily obtained bait.
You can obtain an Anizok's Bait Dispenser from a tinkerer. This device will allow you to turn MANY different fish into various quantities of Homemade Bait. It allows you to have an endless supply of bait.
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In order to make flies, craftable fishing poles and to prepare various types of fish you will need either a tackle box or a Fly Making Bench. Tackle boxes are containers you use from inventory, Fly Making Benches are stationary containers that can be found in various zones like the Plane of Knowledge or Sunrise Hills or that can be placed in real estate.
Lastly there are a few other miscellaneous tools you'll want to have on hand for some combines:
Once you've got a pole and some bait, head out to your favorite body of water and start casting to raise your skill. There are no newbie quests in Crescent Reach or Abysmal Sea to start your skill.
Fishing is not like the other trade skills when it comes to skill modifiers. There is no trophy quest to complete with Baublie Diggs in West Freeport.
As noted in the Getting Started section several poles and bait have skill modifiers that can help raise your skill. Like all Skill Modifiers, you need only have one, the highest one will apply. They do not stack. It doesn't matter if you have a pole with a modifier and bait with a modifier. The highest modifier will apply. One additional note regarding bait. If you are trying to use the modifier from bait, the bait must be in your ammo slot, not in your inventory. It normally isn't necessary to place bait in your ammo slot in order to fish unless you want to apply a skill modifier from the bait.
You do not need to buy any ranks of New Tanaan Crafting Mastery in order to raise your Fishing Skill. You can raise it to 200 through normal activities (fishing or combines). If you want to raise your base skill to 250 in pursuit of increasing the stats on your Artisan's Prize, you'll need buy up to 13 ranks of Fishing Mastery.
Find more information for all AAs helpful to fishing in the AA guide.
If you are new to raising a tradeskill from 301 to 350 (or 201 to 250 for fishing), check out the article below for the basics:
There are currently 155 fishing recipes, you must learn 122 of them to achieve 250.
Additional information Coming Soon
Fishing is the easiest trade skill to master and the quickest one to turn a profit. It also has the added benefit of being a cheap trade skill you can avoid spending training points on, and still keep your profit margin in the manageable ranges.
Fishing can keep you fed. At low levels, fishing can earn you coins enough to buy those spells or supplies you need in order to practice your more difficult/costly trade skills. For those who don't like /gems, it also gives you something to do when you're recovering mana/health, practicing spell skills, etc. Later in life, fishing will also have a better chance of netting you special items that are needed in other tradeskills (such as tanning and temper agents for tailoring and smithing, special fish for baking exotic dishes, fish that can be turned into eggs and scales for a quest, etc.).
What do you need in order to fish? A fishing pole, some bait, some open inventory spots in order to transport your booty to the nearest shopkeeper, and a stream/river/lake or ocean to fish in. The pole will cost you over 2 gold, and it can/will break on you at some point, so be prepared for the need to replace it. The bait will cost you a few copper per bait, and you'll need at least one bait per fish you hope to catch. You can also use fishing lures to catch fish, but while they enhance your ability to catch fish, they will cost you added money.
As mentioned briefly above, you can net yourself some special fish. As with real life fishing, however, you have to know where to find those special fish, as they each have their favorite spots to swim. The fish by zone listing can help you know which zones have special fish in them. Some of these fish will be worth more coin than fresh fish, others will be sought after by tradesfolk for various reasons.
Make sure when you are trying to fish that your pole is held in your primary weapon hand, that you're standing/sitting at the edge of the water, and facing the water. (You can also meditate while fishing, as long as you've equipped the pole in advance, and are sitting on the shoreline.) Then just cast your line and wait for the fish to bite. Cast. Wait. Cast. Wait. Eventually, you should catch... something. Yep, that's right. There's more than just fish available in the water. You can sometimes find fish scales and other oddities snagged on your hook. Don't throw them away, as you can sell them to any (NPC) merchant to add to your slowly growing profits. (The most common nonfish items you will catch are tattered sandals, rusty daggers, and fish scales.) As you continue to fish, your fishing skill should improve... to a point. The fishing skill is level capped (level times 5 plus 5), so there's only so far it will improve, especially if you're low level.
When I had a couple hours of fishing under my belt, and about 20 ranks in fishing, I made a profit of over 6 gold in half an hour. It's still a very slow way to make money, but it's relaxing and if you're truly a broke newbie, it's a great way to earn some money. When you're a spellcaster just learning how to meditate, it can be relaxing and profitable to plant yourself next to a safe body of water, spellcast your mana down to 0, and fish while meditating.
When you're done fishing for the day, stow that fishing pole and some bait (or some extra coins) in the bank. You never know when you're going to end up with your corpse on one continent, and yourself on another continent with no gear, and no way to get to your corpse without food and money. Being able to run to the bank and fish your way into food and coins can make all the difference in the world. (On more developed servers, fishing for your food gives you something to do while you're waiting for your res, tp back to your corpse, etc.)
Just DO remember to stow that fishing pole and re-equip your weapon before you go wandering. As I can attest, from personal experience, trying to attack a monster with a fishing pole does little... other than cause folks to laugh at you. I know of no monster yet that has been clubbed to death with a fishing pole...