I have fished with 5-6 characters and all have gotten the Weather-Beaten Journal before they were skill 225. You need to fish pools, which I do almost exclusively, to get the most trunks and crates. According to El's Extreme Anglin' at
http://www.elsanglin.com Curious Crates have the best catch rate. These crates are found in the Outland.
I have gotten almost all my journals by fishing the pools in Hillsbrad (in the river by Southshore and Tauren Mills). These pools produce a lot of watertight trunks.