Eric Lyon
Scorpion Agency LLCTop Member
- Impact
- 29,189
Today, I'll be analyzing the . fishing gTLD to see if I can dig up any helpful data points that could be stacked with someone elses research into the .fishing extension.
Note: At the time of this analysis there was a 1-character minimum to register a .fishing domain. There were also several 1-character .fishing domains available to register, but with a mid-4-figure premium registration cost.
With the above in mind, lets dive right in...
Note: NameBio.com shows 4 .fishing domain sales reports ranging from $110 to $500.
Some notable sales are:
Based on the data from DNS.Coffee, the .fishing gTLD has experienced significant volatility over the last five years. Unlike professional extensions that show steady linear growth, .fishing has followed a "boom and bust" cycle typical of niche hobbyist domains influenced by registry promotions and speculative registrations.
.fishing Registration Growth (2021–2026)
The following table outlines the year-over-year (YoY) changes based on your provided DNS.Coffee totals:
The 2023 "Anomaly" (The Spike)
The most striking data point is the 138% jump between April 2022 and April 2023. In the domain industry, a sudden surge of 2,559 domains in a single year for a niche TLD usually points to one of two things:
Following the peak, the extension lost over 50% of its volume by April 2025. This sharp decline aligns with the "renewal cliff"—registrants who bought domains during the 2023 spike likely opted not to renew them at the standard price (approx. $20–$30) once the introductory rate expired. This period effectively "cleaned" the zone of low-quality or unused domains.
2026 Stabilization and Recovery
The increase to 2,531 registrations in April 2026 represents a healthy 22.6% recovery from the previous year’s low. This suggests that the extension has found a more sustainable "floor." These new registrations are more likely to be end-users (actual fishing businesses or bloggers) rather than speculators, given that they are occurring after the major churn period.
This is the most dominant commercial use for .fishing. Local captains and professional guides use these domains to create specific, localized identities (e.g., keywest.fishing or alaska-salmon.fishing) to attract tourists and sport fishers looking for excursions.
2. Specialized Gear & Tackle Retailers
While large retailers often stick to .com, smaller "boutique" shops specializing in specific techniques, such as fly fishing, ice fishing, or custom lures, use .fishing to signal their niche expertise immediately to customers.
3. "How-To" Educational Platforms
A significant portion of the 2,531 registrations consists of instructional sites. These focus on teaching specific skills, such as knot tying, lure selection, or advanced sonar techniques, often monetizing through affiliate marketing or digital courses.
4. Tournament & Competition Organizers
Competitive bass, walleye, and saltwater fishing tournaments use these domains for event-specific landing pages. This allows them to separate registration, live leaderboards, and results from their main organization sites.
5. Content Creators & Influencers
Vloggers and social media influencers use .fishing as a brandable home base for their media kits, merchandise shops, and blogs. This is particularly popular for creators who focus on cinematic or high-production fishing content.
6. Resource & Conservation Groups
Non-profits and local fishing associations use the gTLD to promote sustainable practices, habitat restoration, and local fishing regulations. The extension helps these groups stand out from purely commercial enterprises.
7. Commercial Seafood & Aquaculture
Businesses involved in the wholesale supply chain, such as fish farms (aquaculture) or commercial fleet operations, use .fishing to distinguish their B2B operations from retail seafood markets or restaurants.
8. Cybersecurity & Tech (Creative Interpretation)
A unique "meta" niche involves cybersecurity firms and researchers using .fishing for phishing simulation and awareness training. Because of the homophone "fishing/phishing," these domains are frequently registered to host educational content about email security and social engineering.
The Verb Hack (The "Action" Site)
This is the most common use. You use a noun or a location before the dot to describe a specific activity.
As mentioned in the niche markets, cybersecurity experts often use the "fishing" TLD to represent "phishing." This is a phonetic hack where the domain represents the other spelling.
Because ".fishing" is a gerund (an -ing verb), it naturally completes a sentence.
You can use the domain to act as the descriptor for a brand name that otherwise sounds incomplete.
Why the language before and after the dot should match
Using an English word before the dot to match the .fishing gTLD is essential for ensuring the domain is intuitive for the end user. Because "fishing" is a specific English gerund, pairing it with a non-English prefix, such as pesca.fishing, creates a jarring "code-switching" effect that can confuse visitors and dilute the brand’s professional appearance. A cohesive English domain hack, like gone.fishing or fly.fishing, functions as a single, fluid semantic unit that is easier to remember, type, and pronounce. This consistency is particularly important for global discoverability, as it aligns with the expectations of the English-speaking market that dominates this TLD, ultimately boosting user trust and click-through rates.
Charter captains often rely on word-of-mouth or outdated local directories. Targeting businesses listed on platforms like FishingBooker or TripAdvisor allows you to identify successful operators who may be using generic addresses (e.g., captains-name-fl-charters.com) and would benefit from a "hack" like floridakeys.fishing.
The Fishing Tackle Retailer (FTR) Buyer’s Guide
The FTR Buyer's Guide is a goldmine for manufacturers, wholesalers, and specialized tackle brands. These are B2B-focused companies that often need shorter, more memorable domains for dealer portals or specific product line launches (e.g., carbon-rods.fishing).
State and Regional Tourism Boards
Websites like Visit Florida or Explore Minnesota host directories of local guides and resorts. Leads found here are often "digitally active" enough to value SEO but may be stuck on long, hyphenated .com URLs.
Trade Association Membership Lists
Associations like the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) or the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) represent thousands of industry professionals. These members are pre-qualified as "serious" business entities with the budget for premium digital branding.
Tournament Organizer & Club Registries
Groups like B.A.S.S. Nation and Trout Unlimited maintain extensive networks of local chapters and event organizers. These leads are ideal for event-specific domains (e.g., texas-bass.fishing) that separate tournament registration from a main organization site.
B2B Sales Intelligence Platforms
Tools like Lusha or ZoomInfo allow you to filter specifically for "Fisheries" companies in the U.S. or Europe. This provides direct contact info for decision-makers at hatcheries, processing plants, and commercial fleets.
Google Business Profiles (GBP) Maps
Search for "fishing guides near [Major Lake/Coastal City]" and look at the Google Maps results. Target those with high ratings but weak or non-existent websites. Offering them a domain like [cityname].fishing can be part of a larger "digital transformation" pitch.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Using Sales Navigator, you can filter by industry ("Fisheries") and job title ("Owner," "Marketing Director," "Founder"). This is the best way to reach content creators and app developers in the fishing space.
Niche "Phishing" Security Firms
Because of the homophone hack (fishing/phishing), cybersecurity startups are a unique lead source. Search for firms specializing in "Security Awareness Training" or "Phishing Simulations." They often register multiple domains for training campaigns and may pay a premium for stop.fishing or alert.fishing.
Crowdfunding Platforms (Kickstarter/Indiegogo)
Monitor the "Outdoor" or "Sports" categories on Kickstarter for new lure inventions, specialized apparel, or smart-sonar tech. These startups have immediate funding and a high need for a "disruptive" and memorable brand name.
Helpful Outbound articles and tools
Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
In the U.S., the ACPA allows trademark owners to sue domainers if they can prove the domain was registered with a "bad faith intent to profit" from a mark.
This is an international administrative process (run by bodies like ICANN) used to resolve domain disputes. To lose a UDRP, three things must be proven:
If your domain name is so similar to a trademark that it causes "likelihood of confusion" among consumers, the owner can sue for infringement.
On the flip side, if you own a generic word (like bass.fishing or ice.fishing) and a company with a trademark for "Bass" tries to bully you into giving it up, they may be guilty of RDNH.
The "Exact-Match" Verb Hack (Primary Focus)
The most successful sales in this TLD (like ice.fishing for $110) are those that describe a specific, high-intent activity.
While bitcoin.fishing sold for $500, these are speculative "outlier" sales.
Given the phonetic "Phishing" hack, this is your highest ceiling for a quick flip.
With only 4 public sales on NameBio, the "inbound" market (people finding you) is nearly non-existent for this TLD.
As we discussed, "code-switching" (mixing languages) kills trust.
What works for one may not work for another and vice versa.
Have a great domain investing adventure!
Source
Source
Note: At the time of this analysis there was a 1-character minimum to register a .fishing domain. There were also several 1-character .fishing domains available to register, but with a mid-4-figure premium registration cost.
With the above in mind, lets dive right in...
.fishing domain registration costs
According to Tldes.com the .fishing domain registration cost ranges from $20.13 to $32.79+..fishing domains registered today
According to DNS.Coffee there are 2,531 .fishing domains registered today.Public .fishing domain sales reports
It's hard to find many .fishing domain sales reports online, indicating most are private sales.Note: NameBio.com shows 4 .fishing domain sales reports ranging from $110 to $500.
Some notable sales are:
- bitcoin.fishing: $500
- nft.fishing: $184
- ice.fishing: $110
5-year .fishing domain growth summary
Based on the data from DNS.Coffee, the .fishing gTLD has experienced significant volatility over the last five years. Unlike professional extensions that show steady linear growth, .fishing has followed a "boom and bust" cycle typical of niche hobbyist domains influenced by registry promotions and speculative registrations.
.fishing Registration Growth (2021–2026)
The following table outlines the year-over-year (YoY) changes based on your provided DNS.Coffee totals:
| Date | Total Registrations | YoY Change (%) | Market Phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2021 | 1,734 | — | Baseline Niche |
| Apr 2022 | 1,854 | +6.9% | Steady Adoption |
| Apr 2023 | 4,413 | +138.0% | Peak Expansion |
| Apr 2024 | 3,478 | -21.2% | Initial Contraction |
| Apr 2025 | 2,065 | -40.6% | Market Correction |
| Apr 2026 | 2,531 | +22.6% | Current Recovery |
The 2023 "Anomaly" (The Spike)
The most striking data point is the 138% jump between April 2022 and April 2023. In the domain industry, a sudden surge of 2,559 domains in a single year for a niche TLD usually points to one of two things:
- Registry Promotion: A "first-year for $0.99" sale that encouraged bulk registrations.
- Speculative "Dumping": Domain investors (domainers) grabbing keyword-rich names in bulk to test the secondary market.
Following the peak, the extension lost over 50% of its volume by April 2025. This sharp decline aligns with the "renewal cliff"—registrants who bought domains during the 2023 spike likely opted not to renew them at the standard price (approx. $20–$30) once the introductory rate expired. This period effectively "cleaned" the zone of low-quality or unused domains.
2026 Stabilization and Recovery
The increase to 2,531 registrations in April 2026 represents a healthy 22.6% recovery from the previous year’s low. This suggests that the extension has found a more sustainable "floor." These new registrations are more likely to be end-users (actual fishing businesses or bloggers) rather than speculators, given that they are occurring after the major churn period.
8 niches for .fishing domains
1. Charter & Guide ServicesThis is the most dominant commercial use for .fishing. Local captains and professional guides use these domains to create specific, localized identities (e.g., keywest.fishing or alaska-salmon.fishing) to attract tourists and sport fishers looking for excursions.
2. Specialized Gear & Tackle Retailers
While large retailers often stick to .com, smaller "boutique" shops specializing in specific techniques, such as fly fishing, ice fishing, or custom lures, use .fishing to signal their niche expertise immediately to customers.
3. "How-To" Educational Platforms
A significant portion of the 2,531 registrations consists of instructional sites. These focus on teaching specific skills, such as knot tying, lure selection, or advanced sonar techniques, often monetizing through affiliate marketing or digital courses.
4. Tournament & Competition Organizers
Competitive bass, walleye, and saltwater fishing tournaments use these domains for event-specific landing pages. This allows them to separate registration, live leaderboards, and results from their main organization sites.
5. Content Creators & Influencers
Vloggers and social media influencers use .fishing as a brandable home base for their media kits, merchandise shops, and blogs. This is particularly popular for creators who focus on cinematic or high-production fishing content.
6. Resource & Conservation Groups
Non-profits and local fishing associations use the gTLD to promote sustainable practices, habitat restoration, and local fishing regulations. The extension helps these groups stand out from purely commercial enterprises.
7. Commercial Seafood & Aquaculture
Businesses involved in the wholesale supply chain, such as fish farms (aquaculture) or commercial fleet operations, use .fishing to distinguish their B2B operations from retail seafood markets or restaurants.
8. Cybersecurity & Tech (Creative Interpretation)
A unique "meta" niche involves cybersecurity firms and researchers using .fishing for phishing simulation and awareness training. Because of the homophone "fishing/phishing," these domains are frequently registered to host educational content about email security and social engineering.
What a playful .fishing domain hack might look like
In the domain industry, this is called a Domain Hack. It’s a creative way to use the characters before and after the "dot" to spell out a full word, phrase, or call to action. Because .fishing is a longer, specific word, it is most effective when used to create complete activities or "phishing" puns.The Verb Hack (The "Action" Site)
This is the most common use. You use a noun or a location before the dot to describe a specific activity.
- ice.fishing (One of the reported sales we discussed!)
- fly.fishing
- deepsea.fishing
- bass.fishing
- magnet.fishing (A popular hobby niche for finding metal in water)
As mentioned in the niche markets, cybersecurity experts often use the "fishing" TLD to represent "phishing." This is a phonetic hack where the domain represents the other spelling.
- stop.fishing (A site about stopping email scams)
- dont.fishing (Training site for employees)
- caught.fishing (A landing page for users who clicked a simulated phishing link)
Because ".fishing" is a gerund (an -ing verb), it naturally completes a sentence.
- gone.fishing (The classic "out of office" phrase)
- ilove.fishing
- start.fishing (A beginner's guide or retail store)
- keepon.fishing
You can use the domain to act as the descriptor for a brand name that otherwise sounds incomplete.
- hookedon.fishing
- obsessedwith.fishing
- extreme.fishing
- Memorability: It’s much easier to remember ice.fishing than ice-fishing-specialists-minnesota.com.
- Shortened URLs: It removes the need for extra words like "company" or "guides" in the URL.
- SEO Signal: While Google treats most gTLDs equally, having the exact keyword (like fly) right before the category (.fishing) tells the user exactly what the site is about before they even click.
Why the language before and after the dot should match
Using an English word before the dot to match the .fishing gTLD is essential for ensuring the domain is intuitive for the end user. Because "fishing" is a specific English gerund, pairing it with a non-English prefix, such as pesca.fishing, creates a jarring "code-switching" effect that can confuse visitors and dilute the brand’s professional appearance. A cohesive English domain hack, like gone.fishing or fly.fishing, functions as a single, fluid semantic unit that is easier to remember, type, and pronounce. This consistency is particularly important for global discoverability, as it aligns with the expectations of the English-speaking market that dominates this TLD, ultimately boosting user trust and click-through rates.
10 lead sources for .fishing domain outbound campaigns
High-End Fishing Charter DirectoriesCharter captains often rely on word-of-mouth or outdated local directories. Targeting businesses listed on platforms like FishingBooker or TripAdvisor allows you to identify successful operators who may be using generic addresses (e.g., captains-name-fl-charters.com) and would benefit from a "hack" like floridakeys.fishing.
The Fishing Tackle Retailer (FTR) Buyer’s Guide
The FTR Buyer's Guide is a goldmine for manufacturers, wholesalers, and specialized tackle brands. These are B2B-focused companies that often need shorter, more memorable domains for dealer portals or specific product line launches (e.g., carbon-rods.fishing).
State and Regional Tourism Boards
Websites like Visit Florida or Explore Minnesota host directories of local guides and resorts. Leads found here are often "digitally active" enough to value SEO but may be stuck on long, hyphenated .com URLs.
Trade Association Membership Lists
Associations like the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) or the American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) represent thousands of industry professionals. These members are pre-qualified as "serious" business entities with the budget for premium digital branding.
Tournament Organizer & Club Registries
Groups like B.A.S.S. Nation and Trout Unlimited maintain extensive networks of local chapters and event organizers. These leads are ideal for event-specific domains (e.g., texas-bass.fishing) that separate tournament registration from a main organization site.
B2B Sales Intelligence Platforms
Tools like Lusha or ZoomInfo allow you to filter specifically for "Fisheries" companies in the U.S. or Europe. This provides direct contact info for decision-makers at hatcheries, processing plants, and commercial fleets.
Google Business Profiles (GBP) Maps
Search for "fishing guides near [Major Lake/Coastal City]" and look at the Google Maps results. Target those with high ratings but weak or non-existent websites. Offering them a domain like [cityname].fishing can be part of a larger "digital transformation" pitch.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Using Sales Navigator, you can filter by industry ("Fisheries") and job title ("Owner," "Marketing Director," "Founder"). This is the best way to reach content creators and app developers in the fishing space.
Niche "Phishing" Security Firms
Because of the homophone hack (fishing/phishing), cybersecurity startups are a unique lead source. Search for firms specializing in "Security Awareness Training" or "Phishing Simulations." They often register multiple domains for training campaigns and may pay a premium for stop.fishing or alert.fishing.
Crowdfunding Platforms (Kickstarter/Indiegogo)
Monitor the "Outdoor" or "Sports" categories on Kickstarter for new lure inventions, specialized apparel, or smart-sonar tech. These startups have immediate funding and a high need for a "disruptive" and memorable brand name.
Helpful Outbound articles and tools
- How to leverage an Ai Assistant to find domain leads
- How to leverage Social media to find domain leads
- How to leverage Job Boards to find domain leads
- eMail Marketing Best Practices for Domain Outreach
- List of FREE tools for outbound domain sales
- Outbound Domain sales Tips
Legal considerations when selling a domain to an existing business
When you approach a business that owns a trademark to sell them a "matching" or "similar" domain, you are entering a legal minefield. The primary risk is that your outreach can be used as evidence that you registered the domain in bad faith, which is the core requirement for a trademark owner to take the domain from you for free.Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
In the U.S., the ACPA allows trademark owners to sue domainers if they can prove the domain was registered with a "bad faith intent to profit" from a mark.
- The Trap: If you email a company like Orvis or Shimano offering them a domain that includes their name, the very act of your "outbound" email can be used in court to prove your intent was to profit from their brand rather than build a legitimate fishing site.
This is an international administrative process (run by bodies like ICANN) used to resolve domain disputes. To lose a UDRP, three things must be proven:
- The domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark.
- You have no rights or legitimate interests in the domain.
- The domain was registered and is being used in bad faith.
- Note: Selling a domain for an amount far exceeding your "out-of-pocket" costs to the trademark owner is often cited in UDRP rulings as primary evidence of bad faith.
If your domain name is so similar to a trademark that it causes "likelihood of confusion" among consumers, the owner can sue for infringement.
- Example: If you own patagonia.fishing and try to sell it to the clothing brand Patagonia, they could argue you are "diluting" their brand or confusing customers into thinking the site is an official affiliate.
On the flip side, if you own a generic word (like bass.fishing or ice.fishing) and a company with a trademark for "Bass" tries to bully you into giving it up, they may be guilty of RDNH.
- The Difference: Generic words used in their descriptive sense (e.g., a site about the fish called "Bass") are generally protected. But as soon as you target a specific company that uses "Bass" as a brand name, your protection disappears.
- Focus on Generics: Only outbound domains that are descriptive keywords (e.g., fly.fishing or charter.fishing). Avoid anything that contains a brand name.
- Wait for Inbound: For domains that might overlap with trademarks, it is often safer to set up a "For Sale" landing page and wait for them to contact you.
- Avoid "Solicitation" Language: If you do reach out, frame it as a professional inquiry about their interest in a "category-killer" domain for their industry, rather than "I bought your brand name, pay me to get it back."
Potential .fishing domain investing strategy
Based on the market data we’ve analyzed, specifically the 2,531 registrations reported by DNS.Coffee, the modest NameBio sales range of $110 to $500, and the high volatility in registration volume, the best investment strategy for .fishing is a "High-Utility Boutique" approach.The "Exact-Match" Verb Hack (Primary Focus)
The most successful sales in this TLD (like ice.fishing for $110) are those that describe a specific, high-intent activity.
- Action: Acquire short, two-word English phrases that define a category.
- Why: These are "category killers" for small businesses. A guide doesn't want Bob-Smit-Fishing-Guides-Inc.com; they want [Location].fishing or [Species].fishing.
- Target Keywords: Tuna, Kayak, Night, Urban, Salmon, Pro.
While bitcoin.fishing sold for $500, these are speculative "outlier" sales.
- Action: Do not invest in tech-crossover domains (e.g., AI.fishing, Crypto.fishing).
- Why: The data shows a massive drop from 4,413 domains in 2023 to 2,065 in 2025. This "churn" was likely speculators holding tech-related or low-quality names that didn't renew. Stick to the core industry (gear, guides, and lures).
Given the phonetic "Phishing" hack, this is your highest ceiling for a quick flip.
- Action: Register domains that look like corporate alerts or security calls-to-action.
- Why: Security firms have larger budgets than local charter captains.
- Target Keywords: Security, Alert, Training, Internal, Test, Verify.
With only 4 public sales on NameBio, the "inbound" market (people finding you) is nearly non-existent for this TLD.
- Action: Every registration should have a pre-identified list of at least 20-30 leads from the sources we identified (Charter directories, LinkedIn, etc.).
- The Play: Buy the domain for ~$20 and flip it quickly for $150–$400. This covers your registration costs and aligns with the current market valuation found on NameBio.
As we discussed, "code-switching" (mixing languages) kills trust.
- Action: Only invest in English + .fishing.
- Why: .fishing is an English word. If you want to target the Spanish market, you should be using .pesca or .abogado (which has much higher, stable growth at ~25,000+ registrations).
- Inventory: Small, high-quality (10–20 domains).
- Cost Basis: Keep registration/renewal low ($20 at Cloudflare or Spaceship).
- Exit Target: $250 average per domain.
- Method: Direct outbound to "mom-and-pop" fishing guides or security startups.
- How to leverage an Ai Assistant to find domain leads
- How to leverage Social media to find domain leads
- How to leverage Job Boards to find domain leads
- eMail Marketing Best Practices for Domain Outreach
- List of FREE tools for outbound domain sales
- Outbound Domain sales Tips
Questions for you
- Do you own any .fishing domains?
- If so, how are they doing for you?
- Thinking about investing into .fishing domains?
- If so, what niche will you target and why?
What works for one may not work for another and vice versa.
Have a great domain investing adventure!
