When and where you catch every fish in your Switch’s Critterpedia

Part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides

Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch has 80 different fish for players to catch. In this guide, we’ll show you how, when, and where to catch them all.

To become a fishing master, you’ll have to catch one of each fish. This can be a challenge because there are so many places to catch fish, which spawn in various locations and at different times. Some only appear where the ocean connects to rivers, while others swim only in rivers on cliffs. Most fish are available all day or during a specific period of time, which usually changes at 4 a.m., 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m.

Since you can’t see the fish before you catch them, like how you can for bugs, you’ll have to rely on the size of the fish’s shadow to tell you which fish it may be.

1. Smallest, 2. Small, 3. Medium, 4. Large, 5. X Large, 6. Largest

Image: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

All this information is available in your Critterpedia, but only after you’ve caught a fish. The Critterpedia will also note whether or not Blathers has the fish in the museum yet, as denoted by an owl icon that appears to the left of the fish’s name when you highlight it.

We’ve compiled information about all of the fish we know so far in Animal Crossing: New Horizons below.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons fishing guide

Critter # Fish Location Shadow Size Value Time Month (Hemisphere) Critter # Fish Location Shadow Size Value Time Month (Hemisphere) 1 Bitterling River Smallest 900 All day November-March (Northern) / May-September (Southern) 2 Pale Chub River Smallest 160 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 3 Crucian Carp River Small 160 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 4 Dace River Medium 240 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 5 Carp Pond Large 300 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 6 Koi Pond Large 4,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 7 Goldfish Pond Smallest 1,300 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 8 Pop-eyed Goldfish Pond Smallest 1,300 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 9 Ranchu Goldfish Pond Small 4,500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 10 Killifish Pond Smallest 300 All day April-August (Northern) / October-February (Southern) 11 Crawfish Pond Small 200 All day April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern) 12 Soft-shelled Turtle River Large 3,750 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. August-September (Northern) / February-March (Southern) 13 Snapping Turtle River X Large 5,000 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. April-October (Northern) / October-April (Southern) 14 Tadpole Pond Smallest 100 All day March-July (Northern) / September-January (Southern) 15 Frog Pond Small 120 All day May-August (Northern) / November-Feburary (Southern) 16 Freshwater Goby River Small 400 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 17 Loach River Small 400 All day March-May (Northern) / September-November (Southern) 18 Catfish Pond Large 800 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 19 Giant Snakehead Pond X Large 5,500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. June-August (Northern) / December-February (Southern) 20 Bluegill River Small 180 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 21 Yellow Perch River Medium 300 All day October-March (Northern) / April-September (Southern) 22 Black Bass River Large 400 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 23 Tilapia River Medium 800 All day June-October (Northern) / December-April (Southern) 24 Pike River X Large 1,800 All day September-December (Northern) / March-June (Southern) 25 Pond Smelt River Small 500 All day December-February (Northern) / June-August (Southern) 26 Sweetfish River Medium 900 All day July-September (Northern) / January-March (Southern) 27 Cherry Salmon River (Clifftop) Medium 1,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. March-June, September-November (Northern) / March-May, September-December (Southern) 28 Char River (Clifftop) Medium 3,800 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. March-June, September-November (Northern) / March-May, September-December (Southern) 29 Golden Trout River (Clifftop) Medium 15,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. March-May, September-November (Northern) / March-May, September-November (Southern) 30 Stringfish River (Clifftop) X Large 15,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. December-March (Northern) / June-September (Southern) 31 Salmon River (mouth) Large 700 All day September (Northern) / March (Southern) 32 King Salmon River (mouth) Largest 1,800 All day September (Northern) / March (Southern) 33 Mitten Crab River Small 2,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. September-November (Northern) / March-May (Southern) 34 Guppy River Smallest 1,300 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. April-November (Northern) / October-May (Southern) 35 Nibble Fish River Smallest 1,500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. May-September (Northern) / November-March (Southern) 36 Angelfish River Small 3,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 37 Betta River Small 2,500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 38 Neon Tetra River Smallest 500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. April-November (Northern) / October-May (Southern) 39 Rainbowfish River Smallest 800 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 40 Piranha River Small 2,500 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 41 Arowana River Large 10,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 42 Dorado River X Large 15,000 4 a.m. - 9 p.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 43 Gar Pond Largest 6,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 44 Arapaima River Largest 10,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 45 Saddled Bichir River Large 4,000 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 46 Sturgeon River (mouth) Largest 10,000 All day September-March (Northern) / March-September (Southern) 47 Sea Butterfly Sea Smallest 1,000 All day December-March (Northern) / June-September (Southern) 48 Sea Horse Sea Smallest 1,100 All day April-November (Northern) / October-May (Southern) 49 Clown Fish Sea Smallest 650 All day April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern) 50 Surgeonfish Sea Small 1,000 All day April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern) 51 Butterfly Fish Sea Small 1,000 All day April-September (Northern) / October-March (Southern) 52 Napoleonfish Sea Largest 10,000 4 a.m. - 9 p.m. July-August (Northern) / January-February (Southern) 53 Zebra Turkeyfish Sea Medium 500 All day April-November (Northern) / October-May (Southern) 54 Blowfish Sea Medium 5,000 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. November-February (Northern) / May-August (Southern) 55 Puffer Fish Sea Medium 250 All day July-September (Northern) / January-March (Southern) 56 Anchovy Sea Small 200 4 a.m. - 9 p.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 57 Horse Mackerel Sea Small 150 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 58 Barred Knifejaw Sea Medium 5,000 All day March-November (Northern) / September-May (Southern) 59 Sea Bass Sea X Large 400 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 60 Red Snapper Sea Large 3,000 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 61 Dab Sea Medium 300 All day October-April (Northern) / April-October (Southern) 62 Olive Flounder Sea Large 800 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern) 63 Squid Sea Medium 500 All day December-August (Northern) / June-February (Southern) 64 Moray Eel Sea Narrow 2,000 All day August-October (Northern) / February-April (Southern) 65 Ribbon Eel Sea Narrow 600 All day June-October (Northern) / December-April (Southern) 66 Tuna Pier Largest 7,000 All day November-April (Northern) / May-October (Southern) 67 Blue Marlin Pier Largest 10,000 All day July-September, November-April (Northern) / January-March, May-November (Southern) 68 Giant Trevally Pier X Large 4,500 All day May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 69 Mahi-mahi Pier X Large 6,000 All day May-October (Northern) / November-April (Southern) 70 Ocean Sunfish Sea Largest (Fin) 4,000 4 a.m. - 9 p.m. July-September (Northern) / January-March (Southern) 71 Ray Sea X Large 3,000 4 a.m. - 9 p.m. August-November (Northern) / February-May (Southern) 72 Saw Shark Sea Largest (Fin) 12,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 73 Hammerhead Shark Sea Largest (Fin) 8,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 74 Great White Shark Sea Largest (Fin) 15,000 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 75 Whale Shark Sea Largest (Fin) 13,000 All day June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 76 Suckerfish Sea Large (Fin) 1,500 All day June-September (Northern) / December-March (Southern) 77 Football Fish Sea Large 2,500 4 p.m. - 9 a.m. November-March (Northern) / May-September (Southern) 78 Oarfish Sea Largest 9,000 All day December-May (Northern) / June-November (Southern) 79 Barreleye Sea Small 15,000 9 p.m. - 4 a.m. Year-round (Northern and Southern) 80 Coelacanth Sea (rainy days) Largest 15,000 All day Year-round (Northern and Southern)

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