Time is Money: Fishing for angels

Angelfish, that is. Not only are they scrumptious, they're extremely profitable. How does 80 gold (give or take, depending on your realm) per stack of 20 sound to you?
Time Invested
Set aside 10-30 minutes a day to farm up a stack or two. If no one else is farming Dragonfin Angelfish in the area at the same time, you should be able to knock it off pretty quickly.
But Where?
Borean Tundra and Dragonblight are the two zones that you should search. In both zones, you will want an effective Fishing skill of 475 to avoid catching junk. Trust me, time really is money. If your Fishing skill is not maxed, invest in a good fishing rod, whip up some Captain Rumsey's Lager, and throw on a lure. You will catch significantly more fish in a shorter period of time.
For even more money for your time, make this a part of your Daily Quest circuit. Even if you don't normally do dailies in these areas, there are a couple quick ones that will grant you some extra gold and reputation.
- Borean Tundra: Head on over to Unu'pe and grab the quest from Utaik called Preparing for the Worst. It will only net you 5g, but it takes under one minute to do. The reputation will also inch you closer to getting your very own Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole.
- Dragonblight: Stop by Moa'ki Harbor and pick up Planning for the Future. Again, it is only 5g, but I know you want that fishing pole. This will probably take you five minutes or less.
If you are still leveling to 80, the above dailies will also grant you quite a bit of experience.
Why is Dragonfin Angelfish so Profitable?
This fish is the main ingredient for two of the most popular raiding foods out there; Blackened Dragonfin is arguably the best tanking food available, and Dragonfin Filet is the best option for strength-based melee classes.
While several of the upper end buff foods have two recipe versions, one using fish and another with dropped meats, these two have only the fish version.
Successful Sales
- Be sure to check the prices on the Auction House for the fish, as well as both cooked recipes. Selling the fish alone will likely give you a higher profit margin, as you won't be investing any of your own Northern Spices. In this way, you will also be able to appeal to those in the market for either recipe.
- Don't try to sell your fish if the market is flooded that day. If there are too many stacks up already, and especially if this has driven the price down, just check back later. I don't recommend fishing up so much fish that you'll feel the need to liquidate, or end up with space issues. Take your time, and make it part of a routine.
- Funnel the fish to a bank alt. This is imperative. Using a bank alt effectively is one of the best ways to see your savings grow.
- Do sell on key raid days. People will log on and go hunting for the materials they will need for the evening's activities. Do not list auctions late Monday night. Tuesday maintenance can often eat up a lot of that time, and you could lose your deposits. No one can buy your fish if they can't log on!
Filed under: Fishing, Cooking, Analysis / Opinion, Economy, Features, Guides, Making money, Time Is Money






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Shibdaddy Sep 30th 2009 2:09PM
Personally I would have gone with "Angling for Angels." :D
JKWood Sep 30th 2009 2:12PM
Does this fish vendor not value his life? YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME FISH VENDOR!!
Tamednan Sep 30th 2009 2:23PM
*fruit
Veliaf Sep 30th 2009 4:50PM
Ah ha ;)
jellyphish Sep 30th 2009 2:14PM
Do tanks really want a +40 agi buff? seems like there could be something better...(but yes, i'm not a tank...so i could be dead wrong...)
Falcon6 Sep 30th 2009 2:33PM
Agility also affects avoidance, as well, specifically dodge. From the Tankpoints calculator, I get .35% extra chance to dodge if I use that food.
If a fight requires that I need to do a bit of damage, I, as a Warrior, might do better with the Strength food as that increases my block, which would increase my Shield Slam crits. However, if I am in a fight where avoidance would be helpful, I suppose agility would be a good contender.
I have to get expertise capped first, though, so I'm basically using that food for the moment.
Rich Sep 30th 2009 2:38PM
All the number crunching points to Agi to be a good stat for pally tanks, the increase in crit chance and armor helps with threat and mitigation. +STR is almost as good for pallies since alot of abilities use a formula based of AP and SP (and pally tanks talent for Touched for the Light which increases SP based off STR) it allows for a double dipping of 1 stat.
thebitterfig Sep 30th 2009 3:05PM
Agility and Expertise are the only two mitigation/avoidance stats for tanks on food. Expertise works by cutting down on boss parries and thus parry haste, and Agility by increasing armor and dodge. If you are dodge-capped with expertise, it will provide a smaller benefit than Agility in helping you survive a fight. Falcon6 is exactly right when pointing out that if you are in a fight where survival matters more than threat, Agility food is the best way to go.
Well, I guess Strength can be seen as a mitigation stat, as it adds to block for warriors and paladins, and parry for DK, but even then it is inferior to Agility for the purpose of taking less damage, due to a higher conversion from Agility into Dodge than from Strength into parry for DK (or was prior to any 3.2 dodge nerfs, but it wasn't close before the nerfs and I have yet to see math showing that anything has changed), and the fact that block barely takes any damage off modern boss hits for Pally/Warrior tanks.
Marysia Sep 30th 2009 3:06PM
It's good for druids, but most tanks would prefer the filet.
Hoggersbud Sep 30th 2009 3:12PM
Agility is pretty much the top choice for avoidance food, none of the others are really contenders, though STR, Exp and hit foods are at least useful. I can't think of anything else you'd want though.
And it's not like you'll get more stamina, all of them cap at 40.
Mohsus Sep 30th 2009 3:51PM
as a bear, i om nom anything and everything agi/stam.
But maybe that's just me
Sinthar Oct 1st 2009 10:51AM
Agi food for mitigation? Personally i have never seen anyone but a druid tank use it. Pallys n warriors n DK's go for the str version. Pallys gain Block, Sp power (for aggro), attack power etc (my alts a pally tank)
jnk796 Sep 30th 2009 4:02PM
I dislike this post for 2 reasons
1) I'm a hunter, Blackened Dragonfin is our Food o' Choice (SV/MM atleast) so all my dragonfin goes to my own food.
2) if i happen to log on shortly before raid time, as stated at the very end, your making profit off me.
oh well, no harm done. Maybe this will be a good thing and since everyone starts selling it will lower in price :)
Blake Sep 30th 2009 4:30PM
Great food buff for bears!
Aaron B Sep 30th 2009 5:31PM
Nice fishin tips. As a gold monger and a fish monger, I especially appreciate this. I may be a Draenei, but my mother says I'm half Goblin.
sliksix Sep 30th 2009 5:11PM
Nooooo! Another money making secret of mine shared with the world :( It was bad enough already :(
ScytheNoire Sep 30th 2009 5:19PM
I wish sites like WoW.com and MMO-Champion would stop making posts about stuff people who know the game already know about. You just inform a bunch of lazy people and ruin it for those of us who spent the time to actually learn things.
Aaron B Sep 30th 2009 5:47PM
Isn't the point of this website to inform and educate people who want to learn more about the game? (You have now lost THE GAME). Even if it's renegade mongers like myself... it's nice to learn new things, especially when saving for a Mekgineer's Chopper. Glad I could help and have I got a deal for you!
Dastra Oct 1st 2009 12:36AM
Thank you for a great post! I just got back into WoW making this a simple and interesting way to make money to get up and running again.
Stone_Rhino Sep 30th 2009 7:55PM
Look Mr. Bubbles, it's an angel.. fish.