I just started working on Dragonflight fishing today and discovered that my fishing pole is now a tool. Not sure who was in charge of this decision, but I for one enjoyed having my fishing equipment… well, equipped? You let us get a hat to wear, please let me equip my pole like before.
or at least add in another slot so it can use the look wanted?
there is an option now in the fishing skill book to apply the fishing pole (in the upper top right), which will then give the bonuses to all fishing. Now you dont need to equip/unequip. there is also equip and other bonus slots, not quite sure what goes there. this is for the better.
Nah it needs a fishing hat slot.
You aint fishing without a fishing hat.
I fish all day without a hat. been very successful <3
Just feels odd that my fishing pole I have enchanted shares a slot with a tool that isn’t even named a fishing pole? I get the current expansion stuff is design for this expansion, I just miss my fishing pole actually being equipped.
What is with only a single slot being allotted for Fishing equipment though?
We have always had Boots! a Hat and of course our Rods.
The recent changes to the SL vendor is somewhat understandable, I just really hope our prized Rods (Arcanite!) hold their quality.
As for fishing without a hat+, guaranteed sunstroke with the right weather.
No shady trees when out on the water. 
It would be natural to have hat and boot slots for fishing gear, but they appear to be running into technical problems getting old gear to work in the new slots.
Was something mentioned? I haven’t had a look at accessible slots today.
Every other profession has access to more than one I believe, with how great fishing is (and loved) in World of Warcraft I did expect more.
Make Sundays fishing great again!
I support this. Fishing hats or we all walk. Right gang? … gang? Where’d they go?
I must be stupid because when I go fishing I can’t figure out how to get rid of the fishing pole and have my weapons showing again so I’m running around until I attack something before it switches back.
Are these technical issues related to some old equipment still forcibly showing, even after you’ve asked the NPC to hide them unless you’re crafting/gathering?
Because that’s the main reason I haven’t been using my old blue fishing pole. Only way to get the appearance off of my back is to rip it back out of the slot again, which is a little inconvenient.
Its not only fishing poles that do this.
Stuff like this should have been fixed during the beta. 
Oh ok. Not just me then.
Oh you can see Hunters slinging arrows through the skinning knives.
You have any idea how many keys I’ve started and still had fishing gear on?!? This was such a great change.
Stupid? No. It’s wonky. but I’ll be honest, I fight with my pole. Want to see a night elf prance around under your say? Hook in mouth, baby. They’ll tip toe all over chasing that line around.
For that purpose sure, I’ve entered combat many times swinging my fishing rod around too.
This just feels like an unfinished product, in which hopefully we see some attention.
No, but there was an attempt in beta (my memory is foggy about exactly what was attempted, I just remember it ate my hat).
There have also been a lot of issues getting the Underlight Anger to work properly and I think they’re still tweaking things (but it’s hard to tell if I’m seeing new behaviour or just noticing/understanding a quirk that was already there - for example yesterday I was swapping fishing poles and suddenly lost the ability to swim upwards, turning puddles into tar pit death traps … but I don’t know if it’s new or exactly how to reproduce it)