With the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, many of the spin-off games Nintendo created for the series were put aside. This includes Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Out of all three of these games, Pocket Camp was the most popular and was played actively when waiting for the next installment.
The game took a unique twist on the series by having players decorate their own camp and helping villagers out to convince them to move to the camp. One of the main items players needed to find for villagers was a variety of different fish. But how does fish work in this game?
10 How To Fish
Fishing in Pocket Camp is similar in ways to the main installments. Players must cast their fishing rod, wait for the fish to take the bait, then tap to successfully catch it. There are some small changes, however. For example, all kinds of fish are available year-round at any time in the day. Luckily, fish are easier to get since they don't turn away from the casted line, unlike past games. In addition to the normal fishing method, players can use a throw net to get a handful of fish in one sitting without a shadow being present.
9 Locations
There are two important locations when it comes to where fish are located throughout the map. When it comes to river fish, players can head to Lost Lure Creek. There, players will find a large river where they can pick any of the freshwater creatures up from. For those who are looking for ocean fish, head down to the beaches of Saltwater Shores. Not only can players collect a variety of seashells on the beach, but there is also plenty of saltwater fish there for the taking.
8 River Fish
Playing New Horizons, players may understand that fish like koi and frogs are very common. Not in Pocket Camp, though. These two fish are among the rarest of the river and their price tag reflects that. The common river fish include pale chub, crucian carp, bluegill, and black bass.
The rare fish are often bigger fish, such as Arowana, rainbow trout, king salmon, and king koi, which is the rarest of the bunch. Some rare fish are on the smaller side, such as pop-eyed goldfish, frog, and sweetfish.
7 Sea Fish
Similarly to the river fish, there are some fish in the ocean that are rarer in this game than any main installment of Animal Crossing. At Saltwater Shores, players will frequently find fish such as horse mackerel, octopus, anchovy, and red snapper. The rarest fish in the game are two ocean creatures: king olive flounder and king red snapper. These are also the largest fish in the game, so it's hard to miss them. Other rare fish include tiger prawn, ribbon eel, ocean sunfish, shark, and blue marlin.
6 Market Box
Over the years, there are some fish that aren't swimming around in the ocean anymore due to Pocket Camp discontinuing them or because they were part of an event that is over. However, these fish are not taken out of the game and could still be sold through the game's market box. Formally common fish, such as squid and yellow perch, are now rare since they can't be caught but are sold at a cheaper price than one may expect. This pales in comparison to rare fish that are market box exclusive, such as whale sharks and stringfish.
5 Villager Requests
Players can spend a lot of time fishing. It's common to walk away with a ton of fish and not really know how to use them. The most important usage of fish is in requests from villagers. Many times, these characters will be scattered throughout various islands waiting for someone to talk to them. If players ask them if they need help, they will ask for specific objects. While they could ask for fruit, they will also ask the player for common fish. This can help in building a relationship with these villagers.
4 Selling
While common fish are useful for the game's central mechanics, they don't give a lot of money if players plan on selling them. This is where catching rare fish can come in handy as much of the rare fish only provide a monetary value to the game.
That said, there are a few ways players could go about making money off of these elite creatures. One method is to sell them directly out of the inventory so an immediate profit can be made. On the other hand, players could take advantage of the market place and see if any friends would be willing to buy them.
3 Goals
Another major mechanic of the game is the daily goal system, which gives players tasks to complete every day they play the game to earn rewards. This encourages players to interact with the game more, such as helping a certain amount of villagers. The daily goal also includes goals such as catching a fish at a specific location. Some daily goals may also include catching 10 fish to get a reward. These days are planned out, as Tuesdays focus on river fish and Fridays focus on ocean fish.
2 Gulliver
One of the unique characters players will meet up with is Gulliver, who players will get to see actually controlling a ship instead of washed up on a beach. Gulliver's main mechanic is shipping items to various different islands that are off of the Pocket Camp map. Players can export various different items to islands that ask for them. These items include aquatic creatures that players have caught. Luckily, if players choose to ship the fish they earned along with many other items, Gulliver can deliver the cargo and come back with a reward.
1 Special Fish
Pocket Camp is known for having massive events with special items involved. One frequent event was the Fishing Tourney, which introduced fish that were unique for that tournament and gave players special rewards for each tournament they participate in. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a new Fishing Tourney since April 2020, but its fun to look back at some unique fish that were in the game, including Cheep-Cheeps, Bloopers, golden variants of common fish, and fish that were shaped like eggs for Bunny Day.