OSRS Compass

Fishing

OSRS Fishing 1-99 Guide

Sea Slug can take a new member straight to level 24. Fly fish to 35, then choose between Tempoross, Barbarian Fishing, active high-rate methods or fish that your account will use. The right finish depends more on attention and food needs than on one headline XP rate.

Substantively reviewed

01 / Route choice

Choose the route before chasing a rate

Fast without tick manipulation

Use Sea Slug, fly fish to 35, play XP-focused Tempoross to 58, then use normal Barbarian Fishing. At 78, Leechfin becomes a fast option after The Blood Moon Rises, but it needs a direction input almost every tick.

Leechfin is active Fishing, not tick manipulation. That distinction matters less than the input load: it is still a poor fit if you want to look away.

Maximum XP

Use 3-tick fly fishing before Barbarian Fishing, then compare 3-tick Barbarian with 2-tick harpooning at 71. A charged crystal harpoon has the strongest reviewed level-99 table in this route.

Do not plan the whole grind at the perfect ceiling. Missed cycles and banking cut the rate quickly, especially once interruptions start.

Low attention

Normal Barbarian Fishing is steady until banked fish matter more. Monkfish start at 62 after Swan Song, karambwan at 65 after Tai Bwo Wannai Trio, and anglerfish at 82.

Karambwan are the usual Iron choice because the spot never moves and the food stays useful. Anglerfish have longer catches but much lower Fishing XP.

Two skills at once

Barbarian Fishing adds Agility and Strength XP. Drift net fishing adds Hunter XP and can be excellent while both skills still need levels.

Drift nets and numulites are real inputs. Once Hunter XP stops mattering, the method is harder to justify as a Fishing route alone.

02 / Level stages

A practical Fishing route from 1 to 99

  1. 1 to 20 or 24

    Small net or Sea Slug

    Use a small net if you want to train immediately. Sea Slug is the better opening when the quest fits your account.

  2. 20 or 24 to 35

    Fly fishing

    Drop trout and salmon for a quick, cheap bridge into Tempoross. Keep banking only when you want the food.

  3. 35 to 58

    Tempoross or fly fishing

    Choose no-cook games for Fishing XP. Cook catches when permits and Spirit Flakes matter more.

  4. 58 to 71

    Barbarian Fishing

    Normal Barbarian Fishing is a repeatable default with passive Agility and Strength XP. Use 3-tick only if you can maintain it.

  5. 71 to 78

    Keep the route or use 2-tick harpooning

    A practiced 2-tick setup is fast. Normal Barbarian Fishing remains the easier option and costs no crystal charges.

  6. 78 to 99

    Choose the finish that you will sustain

    Leechfin is fast but click-heavy. Crystal 2-tick has a higher ceiling. Karambwan and anglerfish trade XP for useful food and longer catches.

When to switch: switch when a method solves a real problem. Tempoross gives permits, Barbarian Fishing gives passive XP, karambwan bank food, and Leechfin buys speed with constant aiming. A small paper gain is not worth a method you abandon after twenty minutes.

Where Tempoross fits

Tempoross unlocks at 35. Loading raw harpoonfish gives better Fishing XP. Cooking them first gives more points and reward permits. Harpoon tier changes the rate, so a crystal-harpoon table should not be applied to a regular-harpoon account.

The Fish Barrel and Tackle Box can each be bought for 6,000 Spirit Flakes after the August 2026 update. An Iron account no longer needs to stay until the barrel appears as a random permit reward. Stay for the broader rewards only if they suit the account.

Angler outfit and tools

The full Angler set gives 2.5% extra Fishing XP. It can take several hours to obtain, so it may not repay the detour on a short goal. Leechfin maximum tables assume the full set. Dragon, infernal and crystal harpoons also belong to different setups and should not share one rate.

03 / Quest XP

Use complete quest rewards where they fit

QuestFishing XPRequirementRoute value
Sea Slug7,175No Fishing level; 30 FiremakingTakes a fresh member to level 24
Freeing Pirate Pete1,00031 Cooking and Recipe for Disaster startedShort reward when the subquest is already useful
Fishing Contest2,43710 FishingFits the Dwarf quest line
Tai Bwo Wannai Trio5,0005 Fishing plus the quest requirementsUnlocks karambwan Fishing
Swan Song50,00062 Fishing and a long quest chainUnlocks monkfish

Quest rewards are indivisible. The Planner asks whether each quest is complete, skipped or part of the route because Hiscores cannot expose quest state.

Sea Slug is the standout opening. The others make sense when their unlock or quest line already matters. Swan Song gives a large reward and monkfish access, but its long chain is not an efficient detour just to avoid a few Fishing levels.

04 / XP rates

Keep session rates, allowances and ceilings separate

The first rate column is a published normal-session figure or a plainly labelled planning allowance. The second keeps the reviewed maximum setup. These are not interchangeable.

MethodLevelSession or planning rateReviewed maximumSetup behind the number
Fly fishing7041,000 published normal45,100 static Prifddinas setupFast dropping; no Angler outfit assumed
Barbarian Fishing7045,000 practical session48,000 published normalHeavy rod, feathers and dropping
Karambwan7028,600 bait-inclusive31,000 Fish Barrel setupTai Bwo Wannai Trio and fast banking
Tempoross, no cook7055,800 planning allowance62,000 published setupRegular harpoon and XP-focused games
Drift net fishing7079,700 planning allowance88,550 at 1,150 shoals per hour44 Hunter, nets, numulites and active movement
3-tick Barbarian Fishing7081,000 planning allowance90,000 practiced setupContinuous herb-tar cycle and dropping
Leechfin7898,100 planning allowance109,000 maximum-efficiency tableBig fishing net, full Angler and every-tick aiming
Leechfin90109,800 planning allowance122,000 maximum-efficiency tableDrop catches; cutting for sacs lowers Fishing XP
2-tick crystal harpoon99119,500 planning allowance132,800 practiced setupSong of the Elves, charged crystal harpoon and Port Piscarilius rat cycle
Anglerfish9020,700 planning allowance23,000 ordinary-worm setupLong catches and banked food

Rates are Fishing XP per hour. The 90% values are conservative budgeting allowances, not measured averages. They never outrank a method by themselves.

Perfect ceilings

The current crystal 2-tick table reaches 132,800 XP per hour at level 99, with 137,000 stated separately for perfect efficiency. The Leechfin table reaches 130,000 at 99 with full Angler, every-tick aiming and dropping catches. Cutting Leechfin for Blood sacs reduces Fishing XP and eases the loop somewhat.

Practical Leechfin reports disagree about whether the click load is worthwhile. Pre-update field tests support a pace below the maximum table, but they predate the 8 July XP increase. The guide therefore uses them as a reason to budget below the ceiling, not as a post-update measurement.

05 / Iron accounts

Bank what the account needs

  1. Opening

    Quest into normal training

    Use Sea Slug when convenient, then fly fish into Tempoross. Cooking at Tempoross is slower Fishing XP but gives more permits and Spirit Flakes.

  2. Level 65

    Decide whether food beats raw XP

    After Tai Bwo Wannai Trio, karambwan provide a fixed spot and useful combo food. Account for karambwanji gathering and banking. The Fish Barrel extends the trip, but the no-barrel route remains valid.

  3. Later

    Use multi-skill methods deliberately

    Barbarian Fishing is good when passive Agility and Strength XP still matter. Drift net fishing is stronger when Hunter also needs XP and you can afford the consumables.

  4. Endgame

    Choose food or a faster finish

    Anglerfish bank useful food at 82 but train slowly. Leechfin and tick methods are faster; they do not replace the supplies your account still needs.

Tempoross stop point: do not use "stay until Fish Barrel" as a universal route. The 6,000-flake purchase gives you a deterministic fallback, and the remaining rewards may or may not justify more games.

06 / Low attention

Longer catches do not always mean better throughput

Monkfish at seaAbout 3 to 4 minutes per inventory

The current training revision describes a fixed offshore spot with similar XP per hour to land if banking stays efficient. High-tier cargo helps.

Anglerfish at seaAbout 6 to 7 minutes per inventory

A sloop and high-tier cargo can stretch the session to roughly one bank trip per hour. The Fishing XP remains low.

Offshore karambwan can also hold more fish, but the bank trip depends heavily on the raft and route. Recent Iron players report that a longer click interval can come with much slower banking. Treat cargo space as comfort, not an automatic XP upgrade.

Deep Sea Trawling is built around fish output and Sailing play rather than the strongest Fishing XP. Current rate evidence is still moving, so this guide does not insert it into the evergreen timed route.

07 / Free to play

Net to 20, then fly fish for XP

Catch shrimps and anchovies with a small net until 20. Fly fishing trout and salmon is the standard XP route from there. Dropping is faster; banking gives you food at the cost of XP per hour.

Lobsters and swordfish are reasonable when you want banked fish, but they are not faster training. Free to play does not have Tempoross, Barbarian Fishing, karambwan or the members quest route.

08 / Research record

Sources and review date

Mechanics and maximum tables use current Jagex posts and immutable Wiki revisions. Practical guides and player discussions inform attention, setup friction and the gap between a clean table and an ordinary session. Community posts do not establish mechanics on their own.

Wiki revisions

Jagex updates

Practical perspectives and player discussions

Research reviewed 26 August 2026. Recheck after Fishing, Sailing, Tempoross, Leechfin, reward-shop or catch-mechanic changes.

Use the route tool for your account

This guide owns the stable choices and switch logic. The Fishing Training Planner applies them to your level, XP, quests and preferred attention. The Fishing Calculator handles exact catches and current values.