How to Catch the Best Rare Fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There are many different types of fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Some are rarer than others and therefore worth quite a bit more Bells. This guide will show you how to catch the best rare fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons so you can complete your Critterpedia.

Tips and Tricks To Catch Rare Fish

When it comes to catching rare fish, there a few tips and tricks you can use. One thing to do is scare away the smaller fish so the larger fish have room to spawn. As long as you are in an area that meets the conditions to spawn the fish you are looking for, you can walk along the beach and scare away the smaller fish.

Walking in and out of buildings also resets the fish spawns, so you may want to try that if you are not having any luck. You can try this in the Resident Services building. Enter and exit it and see if the fish and bugs have reset. Also, check out our Animal Crossing: New Horizons fish prices guide to see where all the different fish spawn, and what time of day and season they spawn in.

Using Fish Bait

Fish bait is the most obvious wait to increase your chances of catching the fish you’re after. To get fish bait, you’ll need to head over to the beach and look for small black spots in the sand and dig in that location. You will find Manila Clams from these spots and convert them into fish bait.

Head over to a good fishing spot that will spawn the fish you’re looking for and throw the bait in the water. Look for a shadow of the fish you’re looking for and try to reel it in. If it’s the wrong size or wrong fish, throw some more bait out there and try again.

How To Catch A Sturgeon

An easy way to catch Sturgeon is by forcing them to spawn in special areas. The shallows of the river mouth is where you want to be for this fish. When you come to a deserted island, you can force the Sturgeon to spawn as the river mouth by scaring away the other fish. Run up and down the river leading up to the ocean to scare away the small ones.

You can also cast your rod into the water to accomplish this. Let them bite the bobber and then walk away. Then you can head back down to the river mouth and see if he has spawned. If a different fish spawned, repeat these steps.

• Price: 10,000 Bells
• Size: 6
• Where: River (Mouth)
• Time: 4am – 9pm
• Season (Northern Hemisphere): September through March
• Season (Southern Hemisphere): March through September

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How To Catch A Stringfish

The Stringfish is only available four months out of the year. You can also only catch this fish after 4:00 PM up until 9:00 AM the next morning on a River Clifftop. You will need a ladder or paths up to the clifftops. Try to find an island with a lot of clifftops for this one. The shadow is large, so scare off all the small and medium shadows to make room for this one.

• Price: 15,000 Bells
• Size: 6
• Where: River (Clifftop)
• Time: 4pm – 9am
• Season (Northern Hemisphere): December – March
• Season (Southern Hemisphere): June – September

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How To Catch A Coelacanth

The Coelacanth is a rare fish that spawns in the sea all year round, but it must be raining on your island for it to spawn. Its shadow looks similar to the Sea Bass, but the Coelacanth is a bit larger and longer. Apparently, you can also use fish bait to catch a Coelacanth when it’s not even raining.

• Price: 15,000 Bells
• Size: 6
• Where: Ocean (Rain)
• Time: All Day
• Season (Northern Hemisphere) – All Year
• Season (Southern Hemisphere) – All Year

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How to Catch A Saddled Bichir

The Saddled Bichir can be found spawning in rivers, and its shadow is large. You can catch him in June after 9 PM in the Northern Hemisphere, and in March after 9 PM in the Southern Hemisphere. Use our tips for scaring away smaller fish to make room for this one to spawn.

• Price: 4,000 Bells
• Size: 4
• Where: River
• Time: 9pm – 4am
• Season (Northern Hemisphere) – June – September
• Season (Southern Hemisphere) – December – March

How to Catch A Golden Trout

The Golden Trout is a 15,000 Bell fish with a large size shadow that spawns on clifftop rivers. You’ll want to use some bait to catch this one because it’s pretty elusive. You can catch this fish between March and May or September and November after 4 pm until 9 am.

• Price: 15,000
• Size: 4
• Where: River (Clifftop)
• Time: 4pm – 9am
• Season (Northern Hemisphere) – March – May & September – November
• Season (Southern Hemisphere) – March – May & September – November