With introduction of the new “barbarian” ways to catch fish an old question “What is the best fishing method?” arisen again. I, being a long time advocate of Monkfish and Salmon/Trout fly-fishing, was quick to rule out these new “barbarian” methods. But then I thought: “Why? Am I really sure?”

So I ended up making a set of experiments on most common fishing methods to find the truce. What can I say? Results appeared to be quite shocking.

Here is what I did at fishing level of 79.
15 minutes fishing sessions in Shilo village, Catherby, Barbarian Outpost and Pistachios Colony. I tried:

Sharks in Catherby (banking them of course)
Lobsters in Catherby (banking them)
Swordfish/Tune using Harpoon in Catherby (banking them)
Swordfish/Tune with bare hands in Catherby (banking them)
New ‘barbarian’ fly-fishing at Barbarian Outpost (powerfishing using caviar and roe as bait)
Monkfish in Pistachios Colony (banking them)
Salmon/Trout fly-fishing in Shilo (selling to the store)
Rainbow fly-fishing in Shilo (banking them)
I calculated average experience and money I was getting from 15 min fishing sessions. Money were calculated with the following prices in mind:

Sharks – 1K ea
Monkfish – 400 ea
Lobsters – 250 ea
Swordfish – 300 ea
Tuna – 50 ea
Rainbow fish – 100 ea
Salmon/Trout – based on a price in the shop at the moment.
Here are the results.
As you can see the new ‘barbarian’ fly fishing appeared to be the fastest way to 99! Plus it gives generous Agility, Strength and Cooking bonuses. Salmon/Trout fly-fishing ought to go away (at least for members).
Though, Monkfish is also very good way up. Yes, it gives less experience, but it is compensated by a good monetary reward.
And what came as a shock to me is that Shark fishing apparently does not make any sense! Monkfish gives better experience and money! No more Shark fishing for me.
Finally, harpoons getting obsolete (unless you are a pure skiller). Bare hands fishing is exactly as fast as Harpooning, but gives an additional Strength bonus.

I hope you find this report useful. If you haven’t completed the Barbarian training, it is probably a time to do so . At least as fishing goes.

P.S. It would be interesting to find out if the same proportions remain on other fishing levels. Mine was 79 at the time. If you decide to try it out on another level I would appreciate if you could share the results with me. Thanks!

Tags: What is the best Runescape Fishing method?