One of the magical aspects of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is that there are seemingly endless things for players to do. Some love to socialize with the villagers be cultivating a welcoming island, others enjoy taking advantage of the Stalk Market by creating calculators to help sell turnips at the highest price, some fans like the custom design features that can allow for endless creativity, and many players just appreciate some relaxing fishing.
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, there are quite a few reasons why fishing can be such fun. Adding to the museum is great, Nintendo has always taught its players to collect as much as possible, and of course, the rarer the fish the more expensive it is and the more it can be sold for at Nook's Cranny.
Once players get Blathers in their game, his museum is one of the coolest locations within New Horizons, and donating creatures to his museum is a blast. It's very fun to search through halls and see all that was donated. Additionally, for those who love to be collectors within gaming, both the museum and the Critterpedia app on NookPhone are helpful ways to show how close players are to catching every single fish in the game.
Different critters come out during particular times of day, months, and can even be affected by the weather. Even if a player knows everything there is to know about fishing in New Horizons, it is possible that a fish may have been missed in March, and not be able to be caught again until months from now. But fear not, the following list will help players plan ahead moving forward as to when and how to catch the boatload of these pesky rare creatures.
It is also important to note that the months in which the critters are catchable depends on the hemisphere of the player, which was selected at the beginning of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. For example, at the time of writing this, Tuna will soon depart from the Northern Hemisphere. For the sake of clarity in this guide, Northern Hemisphere is marked with (N) and Southern Hemisphere is marked with (S).
Rare Fish In Ponds
Gar - The Gar sells for 6,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught from 4pm to 9am from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Giant Snakehead - The Giant Snakehead sells for 5,500 bells and casts a large shadow. It can be caught from 9am - 4pm from Jun - Aug (N) or Dec - Feb (S).
Ranchu Goldfish - The Ranchu Goldfish sells for 4,500 bells and casts a small shadow. It can be caught from 9am - 4pm all year round.
Koi - The Koi sells for 4,000 and casts a large shadow. It can be caught from 4pm to 9am all year round.
There are not many ponds in the game, so best utilizing fish bait in New Horizons will help to catch tricky fish in ponds.
Rare Fish In Rivers
Dorado - The Dorado sells for 15,00 bells and casts a large shadow. It can be caught from 4am - 9pm from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Arowana - The Arowana sells for 10,000 bells and casts a large shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Arapaima - The Arapaima sells for 10,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Saddled Bichir - The Saddled Bichir sells for 4,000 bells and casts a large shadow. It can be caught from 9pm - 4am from June - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Betta - The Betta sells for 2,500 bells and casts a small shadow. It can be caught from 9am - 4pm from May - Jun (N) or Nov -Mar (S).
Attempting to catch rare fish repeatedly will ware out weaker fishing rods, so snagging the gold fishing rod in New Horizons as soon as possible will help with catching the elusive creatures.
Rare Fish In Seas
Great White Shark - The Great White Shark sells for 15,000 bells and casts finned shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Coelacanth - The Coelacanth sells for 15,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day and all year round but ONLY during rainy days.
Barreleye - The Barreleye sells for 15,000 bells and casts a small shadow. It can be caught from 9pm - 4am all year round.
Whale Shark - The Whale Shark sells for 13,00 bells and casts a finned shadow. It can be caught all day from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Saw Shark - The Saw Shark sells for 12,00 bells and casts a finned shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from June - Sept (N) or Dec - Mar (S)
Napoleonfish - The Napoleonfish sells for 10,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught from 4am - 9pm in Jul and Aug (N) or Jan and Feb (S)
Oarfish - The Oarfish sells for 9,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from Dec - May (N) or Jun - Nov (S).
Hammerhead Shark - The Hammerhead Shark sells for 8,000 bells and casts a finned shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Jun - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Barred Knifejaw - The Barred Knifejaw sells for 5,000 and casts a medium shadow. It can be caught all day from Mar - Nov (N) or Sep - May (S).
Suckerfish - The Suckerfish sells for 1,500 bells and casts a finned shadow. It can be caught all day from June - Sep (N) or Dec - Mar (S).
Rare Fish On Piers
Some fish can be caught specifically from piers, which is useful for finding rare and more expensive aquatic animals. While fishing from said piers may provide the same basic "Dab" as fishing from the shoreline, it will also provide the opportunity to catch fish that are out of reach from the beach and are pier exclusive.
Blue Marlin - The Blue Marlin sells for 10,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from Nov - April & July - Sep (N) or Jan - Oct (S).
Tuna - The Tuna sells for 7,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from Nov - April (N) or Jan - Mar & May - Oct (S)
Mahi-mahi - The Mahi-mahi sells for 6,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from May - Oct (N) or Nov - Apr (S).
Giant Trevally - The Giant Trevally sells for 4,500 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from May - Sept (N) or Nov - Mar (S).
Rare Fish In The Mouth Of Rivers
Sometimes players will notice fish swimming in the mouth of a river, in the medium between the sea and the river. This mouth of the river is where players can catch a few unique fish that are nowhere else, and one, in particular, is rare and worth a pretty penny.
Sturgeon - The Sturgeon sells for 10,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught all day from Sep - Mar (N) or Mar - Sep (S).
Rare Fish In Clifftops
There are a few extremely rare and elusive fish that are found on top of cliffs in New Horizons. These fish require ladders to climb up to, and a lot of patience when fishing. Bringing loads of fishing bait also helps a ton.
Golden Trout - The Golden Trout sells for 15,000 bells and casts a medium shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Mar - May & Sep - Nov (N) or Sep - Nov & Mar - May (S).
String Fish - The String Fish sells for 15,000 bells and casts a huge shadow. It can be caught from 4pm - 9am from Dec - Mar (N) or Jun - Sep (S).
It is possible that in the coming months Nintendo will add content to the game and even add more rare fish. One rumor points to the chance that deep-sea fishing may return to Animal Crossing, and thus quite a few fish would be added to the Critterpedia app. But for now, there are more than enough creatures to collect.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.