4 zones were available for play (regrettably I cannot include a map):

• The Borean Tundra and Grizzly Hills currently contain “no fish” in their waters.
• The Howling Fjord has fish, but the area required more than a single point of fishing skill to cast, so I do not know what fish.
• Dragonblight currently has a very low skill requirement (probably 25 to avoid get-aways). Its waters contain… Giant Sunfish. Let’s hope something more interesting swims there in future.

The only pools found were along the east coast of the Grizzly Hills. These were not labelled, and could not be fished. Visually they looked like School of Red Snapper.

Fishing Trainers are in the main points of entry to Northrend – at least Valiance Keep (Alliance) and Vengeance Landing (Horde). Much like Outland, it looks like the aim is to allow professions to be improved the moment we set foot in Northrend. The Fishing Trainers currently only offer Apprentice and Journeyman ranks, like Fishing Trainers elsewhere in Azeroth. It is not known how the new rank of Fishing (logically “Grand Master” in line with other professions) is trained.

Death Knights only start with one secondary profession, First Aid (currently at 270/300). (Curiously, they also start with Riding 75, but the Death Knight’s standard mount still travels at epic speed – 100%.) So expect Death Knights to develop their fishing skills from nothing, like everyone else.

At least one fishing-related quest exists, in the Alliance village of Wildervar, in the north-east of the Howling Fjord. The quest requires “Northern Barbfish”. The quest-giver suggests these are collected from plants on the bottom of the nearby lake. They might also be fishable (I could not check), or the quest might follow the same pattern as Seth’s quest for Pristine Shimmerscale Eels: Logically you should be able to catch the fish by fishing, but actually you can’t.

The Tuskarr (Kalu’ak) best fit the role of a “fishing faction”. Currently their Fishmongers sell 2 cooked fish – Fillet of Icefin and Poached Emperor Salmon. These foods are level 65 and 75 respectively.

But the Tuskarr are not the only faction that fish. The Murlocs of Northrend are very civilised. And they enjoy fishing too. With a pole, line and bobber. Just like the rest of us. RwlRwlRwlRwl…? Oh; I think I’m in love.

(Out of respect, I have not been posting leaked/hacked information from the Alpha. There are a few things that I know about, which haven’t yet been published – and are more tangible than “random” spell names which turn out to be insignificant in the end (like “net fishing” in The Burning Crusade, which transpired to be used for just one quest). All the information here was seen with my own eyes, at an official event. I assume I am completely free to document this here.)

You may also be interested in information about Inscription.

An early alpha version of Wrath of the Lich King was playable at Blizzard’s Paris 2008, WorldWide Invitational. An Inscription Trainer can be found in the main Alliance town in the Borean Tundra, Valiance Keep.

Training Inscription adds 2 abilities to the spellbook: “Inscription” and “Milling”. Milling crushes 5 herbs to create paste for inks. Presumably different herbs would give different pastes.

Only 2 “spells” can be learned from the trainer:

1. Ivory Ink – 2 Peacebloom and a Vial, to create a “white” quality item called Ivory Ink.
2. Silver Ink – 2 Silverleaf and a Vial, to create a similar item called Silver Ink.

Sharp-eyed readers will note that Milling and Ivory/Silver Ink serve very similar purposes. And none of the real “meat” of the profession – altering spells and abilities – has been added yet.

Blizzard’s lead game designer, Tom Chilton, stated the following:

“Currently it looks like we’ll be using Herbalism as the associated profession [for Inscription].”

This has been widely reported as “Inscription will use herbs”, but the line was spoken with uncertainty. Blizzard’s design approach is constantly evolving, right up until release (that’s just how they perfect the game). Since so little is yet implemented, Inscription may still change quite dramatically.

(Out of respect, I have not been posting leaked/hacked information from the Wrath Alpha. All the information here was seen with my own eyes, at an official event. I assume I am completely free to document it here.)