Profitable daily tasks are an important part of success in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Earning Bells allows players to purchase items at Nook's Cranny or Able Sisters, pay off loans with Tom Nook, and take advantage of wandering NPCs with shops. Because of this, finding ways to earn money while exploring or doing daily chores can keep income steady. Of the profitable tasks in New Horizons, fishing can be quite lucrative, as several species sell for a solid profit.
After obtaining a fishing rod, fishing is easy in New Horizons. In bodies of water like ponds, rivers, and oceans, shadows of different sizes can be seen swimming under the surface. To catch a fish, players simply cast their fishing line close to the shadow, wait for a bite, and then reel the fish in. There are 80 species of fish in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but they aren't all available year-round. Instead, players have access to different species depending on the month their Nintendo Switch is set to, keeping fishing fresh with a constant rotation of options.
Time of day and location can also have an effect on which fish are available. For example, a Pale Chub will spawn in rivers between 9 AM and 4 PM, while the Dace spawns from 4 PM to 9 AM. Cherry Salmon will only spawn in clifftop rivers, and King Salmon are available at river mouths. Because of this, catching every available species will require players to fish all over each body of water. The size of shadows also has an effect on what fish might be reeled in. The A Killifish has a tiny shadow, but an Olive Flounder has a giant shadow. While bigger shadows can belong to less common New Horizons fish species, there are valuable fish of many different sizes.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fish Can Be Worth 15,000 Bells
While many Animal Crossing: New Horizons fish species are worth less than 1,000 Bells, there are a few rare types that can earn a decent profit. This is a plus for those who spend a good deal of time fishing, and who regularly reel in big catches. Below are the fish worth the most in New Horizons, according to Polygon.
- Whale Shark - 13,000 Bells
- Golden Trout - 15,000 Bells
- StringFish - 15,000 Bells
- Dorado - 15,000 Bells
- Great White Shark - 15,000 Bells
- Barreleye - 15,000 Bells
- Coelacanth - 15,000 Bells
There are also a number of fish species that can net 10,000 Bells or more, like the Sturgeon or Blue Marlin. Because fishing costs only the materials required to craft fishing rods, catching bundles of fish to sell for a profit in New Horizons comes with little risk or investment. Hopefully, Nintendo will consider adding further fish species to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in future content updates, offering players who have already caught every species, or those wanting further high-profit options, a wider selection. Doing so would freshen fishing and encourage players to keep tossing out a line when walking past bodies of water on their islands.
Source: Polygon