How to fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Your native island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons has several water bodies and is surrounded by the ocean where you can catch unique varieties of fish. If you’re yet to explore this feature, here’s how to fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing games have always gained prominence for their life simulation mechanics that grant players a ton of freedom while building and exploring their islands. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is no exception as it offers island tours, DIY recipes, Harv’s Island, house customization, and many more exciting features.
Over the years, the majority of Animal Crossing games have also supported fishing. Players have always been curious to find new types of fish and sell them for valuable currencies.
On that note, here’s how to acquire a fishing rod and fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
How to get a fishing rod in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
You can get your first Flimsy Fishing Rod in Animal Crossing: New Horizons from Tom Nook. He hands out the DIY recipe to you and the crafting materials include five tree branches.
Thereafter, you can get the following Fishing Rods in the game:
| Fishing Rod | Durability | How to get | Crafting Materials | Purchase Price/Selling Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishing Rod | 30 | Get recipe from Pretty Good Tools Recipes for 3,000 Nook Miles | x1 Flimsy Fishing Rod x1 Iron Nugget | -/600 Bells |
| Golden Fishing Rod | 90 | Catch every Fish in the game | x1 Fishing Rod x1 Gold Nugget | -/10,400 Bells |
| Colorful Fishing Rod | 30 | Purchase from the cabinet at Nook’s Cranny | – | 2,500/625 Bells |
| Fish fishing Rod | 30 | Purchase from the cabinet at Nook’s Cranny | – | 2,500/625 Bells |
| Outdoorsy Fishing Rod | 30 | Purchase from the cabinet at Nook’s Cranny | – | 2,500/625 Bells |
How to catch fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Follow these steps to fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons:
- Find a water source such as ponds, river pools, rivers, waterfalls, and the ocean.
- Look for a fish shadow in the water. Based on size and shape, there are six types of shadow in the game. Small and thin shadows like those of an eel are common while rare fish like the Great White Shark have massive shadows with a fin.
- Stand near the shadow’s head and press A to cast a line in the water. A fish can perform one of these actions then:
- Nibble up to five times. Do note that after nibbling four times, the fish definitely bites the bobber on the fifth turn.
- Bite the bobber.
- Lose interest and swim away.
- As soon as a fish bites the bobber, quickly press and hold the A button.
- If you’re slow or do not press A at all, the fish will escape and disappear.
- The fishing rod is the only tool that can catch fish. Do not use nets or shovels near the shadow as it will lead to the fish being surprised and disappearing.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has several mechanics that make fishing one of the most interesting activities in the game. For instance, some fish like the sea bass are abundantly found in water bodies all year but others like the gar only appear at certain times of the day or year.
This was everything you need to know about catching fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For similar content, check out the best Genshin Impact characters, best Genshin Impact artifacts, and how to get League Points in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
Image Credits: Nintendo