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Drift net fishing

This article is compiled from the videos of GnomonkeyRS. It records what Gnomonkey said, with sources, not verified game fact. See About.

Drift net fishing

Drift net fishing
Type Activity
Location Fossil Island underwater area1
Requirements 44 Hunter, 47 Fishing2
XP rates 90k Fishing and 120k Hunter per hour; 100k and 130k with net removal34
Cost about 200k gp/hr in nets5
Pet chance none6
Videos 1 (first 2022-03-23, latest 2022-03-23)
Main source Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS

Drift net fishing is one of the combination training methods on Fossil Island, giving Fishing and Hunter XP together. Gnomonkey calls it an incredibly underlooked training method that he only recently learned was decent3. He says its point is basically to pay for efficient Hunter and Fishing XP, and that it benefits from quick net removal6. It is the best XP rate for Hunter alone from level 47 up to at least level 73, when black chinchompas become available2, and it cannot really be beaten for the early Hunter levels7.

Contents

Requirements

  • A minimum of 44 Hunter and 47 Fishing. XP rates scale up until 70 in both, which gives the maximum rate, but there is no hard drop-off at lower levels2.
  • Any Dragon harpoon or any Trident variant (Seas or Swamp), which could be a challenge on an ironman8.
  • The diving apparatus from the Recipe for Disaster Freeing Pirate Pete subquest, a flippers drop from Mogres, and full Graceful8.

XP rates and cost

Gnomonkey obtained 90k Fishing and 120k Hunter XP per hour and says higher is certainly possible3. At bare minimum stats the OSRS Wiki shows 64k Fishing and 80k Hunter XP per hour, which he says is on the lower end2. A friend and clanmate, Saxer Pillar, using the net removal strategy below, reached 100k Fishing and 130k Hunter XP per hour with practice4.

Banking the catch yields a lot of fossils, some medium clues and roughly 100k gp in loot per hour5. Drift nets cost about 200k gp per hour, so the activity is not profit, though he says sacrificing the loot for more XP is worth it if a low moneymaker such as herb runs can be done5. Nets cost about 1.25 gp per XP at level 70 Fishing and Hunter, and a bit more at lower levels5.

Banking is an okay source of fossils, but he recommends finishing the Fossil Island museum via sulliuscep woodcutting on an account, the best fossil source in the game6. The activity has zero pet chance for either Fishing or Hunter, which makes it particularly good on an alt or if the heron is already owned6.

Setup

Use about a hundred drift nets an hour. Buy nets, stamina potions and numulite at the Grand Exchange beforehand and bring the nets noted8.

  • Attire: Graceful body, legs and gloves, fishbowl helmet, diving apparatus and flippers, which provide infinite oxygen and the ability to run9.
  • Inventory: eight to twelve stamina potions, a stack of numulite and the noted nets. A ring of inurns (as transcribed) also benefits the activity, but he is not buying one for his alt9.
  • RuneLite: in the Driftnet plugin he raises the tag timeout to 40 ticks10.

Getting there

The area is next to the seaweed patches on Fossil Island. Take the boat north of the island out to sea, right-click it and choose dive, then head to the cave with a mermaid and pay to enter1. Entry costs 200 numulite for the day or 20k numulite for permanent access1. Enter without the trident equipped and equip it once inside the main area1.

Mechanics

A fish must be tagged with the trident to be caught in a net. Fish tagged outside the tile markers swim directly into a net given the chance, and XP is given for each fish caught in any net11. A fish tagged inside the markers can still be caught if it wanders near a net11. If a fish wanders near a full net and tries to enter, its tag resets as though it was never tagged12.

Right-click Exchange on the mermaid to store nets and withdraw them as needed, then set a net over each barrier. Each net holds up to ten caught fish before it needs removing1.

Strategy

  • Priority: tag any fish near a net first, then move on to the further ones until more appear closer11.
  • Full nets: the intended method is to open the net and click the bank icon, paying some numulite for the mermaids to bank the catch. This is required for medium clues or fossils, and the fish themselves (mostly anchovies and sardines) have very low value13.
  • Fast removal: found by Saxer Pillar. Hold the one key down (with software or a physical wedge) and click the full net, then click it again a tick later to remove and replace it with zero delay. This loses a minor amount of loot but speeds XP by ten to twenty percent14.
  • Tile block: when a net fills, stand on a marked block tile to keep fish away from the net until it is replaced, then move so they all enter in single file immediately15.
  • Clumping: fish tend to clump by the entrance. Tagging and moving through them frees them to path around, possibly towards a net16.
  • Early removal: remove nets that are close to full if many fish need attention at the other net. He calls this a nuanced technique he was not yet using in the footage16.

References

  1. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 1:57 ↩↩↩↩↩

  2. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 0:29 ↩↩↩↩

  3. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 0:00 ↩↩↩

  4. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 4:26 ↩↩

  5. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 4:47 ↩↩↩↩

  6. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 5:09 ↩↩↩↩

  7. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 5:25 ↩

  8. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 0:57 ↩↩↩

  9. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 1:30 ↩↩

  10. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 2:22 ↩

  11. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 2:45 ↩↩↩

  12. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 3:07 ↩

  13. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 3:18 ↩

  14. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 3:42 ↩

  15. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 3:57 ↩

  16. Drift Net Fishing Guide (230k XP/HR) OSRS, 2022-03-23. ▶ 4:13 ↩↩

Activities

Inferno • Corrupted Gauntlet • Fortis Colosseum • Hallowed Sepulchre • TzHaar Fight Cave • Nightmare Zone • Deadman Mode • Guardians of the Rift • Volcanic Mine • The Gauntlet • Salvaging • Elf pickpocketing • Soul Wars • Drift net fishing • Trouble Brewing • Ourania Altar • RuneScape 3 Leagues • Sorceress's Garden • Chompy bird hunting • Fortis Colosseum speedrun • Gridmaster • Birdhouse run • Wilderness • Vyrewatch Sentinel • Barrows • Barracuda Trials • Chaos altar • Slayer point boosting • Black chinchompa • Blisterwood tree • Graveyard Agility Course • Kalphite • Deep sea trawling • Rogues' Den • Rooftop Agility courses • Castle Wars • 3-tick 4-granite • Knights of Ardougne • Mixology • God Wars Dungeon

Category: Activities