Fishing in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is relatively easy once you get the hang of it; however, if you press the button too quickly, there is a chance that you will miss out on catching a potentially rare fish that will swim away. In light of this, please allow me to demonstrate how to fish in Animal Crossing in a step-by-step fashion:

Going into your inventory (X), choosing the item you want to hold (A), and then selecting the Hold option will allow you to equip the fishing rod.
You also have the option of using the Left or Right buttons on your controller to cycle through the rest of your equipment until you get to the fishing rod. Because pressing the sprint button (holding down the B button) in an area with water will startle the fish and cause them to swim away, you absolutely must steer clear of doing so in that area. As you get closer to the water, make sure that you keep your moving speed consistent. Pressing the A button will allow you to cast your line after you have positioned yourself close to the water but not necessarily on the very edge of a bank. No matter how far you cast the line in either direction, it will always cast to the same distance. As a result, shifting your position slightly further away from the edge of the water will enable you to cast the lure in front of fish that are swimming close to the bank.

When you have finished casting your lure into the water, you can quickly reel in your line by pressing A a second time, and then cast again by pressing A.
If you want to reel in a fish using the fishing rod in New Horizons, you should cast your lure as close to the fish's head as possible, or at the very least in front of the fish. This will increase your chances of successfully catching a fish.

1. The head of the fish is typically the part of the fish's silhouette that is more spherical and expansive in comparison to the rest of the fish

2. Once you've dropped your lure into the water, you have to be patient and wait for a fish to approach it before you can reel it in

3. The majority of the time, rather than immediately hooking onto the lure, the fish will nibble at it first

4. If you press A once more before the fish has taken the bait, the fish will swim away because of it

    

You have to keep a close eye on the lure and wait for a fish to take it under the water before you can cast your line. When this occurs, you will need to press A to hook the fish, and then you will need to continue pressing A as much as possible to bring the fish to the shore where you can defeat it.

You should make it a point to explore as many of the different bodies of water on and around your island as you possibly can because different kinds of aquatic organisms make their homes in the various bodies of water there.

Making Fish Bait in New Horizons and the Different Ways It Can Be Used

Fish Bait is an item that will prove to be extremely useful for you in the event that you decide to farm fish from a particular location. For you to be able to learn how to make the item, you are going to require a Shovel. Early on in the game, you will be tasked with the responsibility of erecting a tent for a character named Blathers, who has a keen interest in the local flora and fauna. Once you have successfully installed Blather's tent on your island, the curator of the owl museum will move there the following day. Talk to Blathers as soon as you can, as they will give you the recipe for crafting the Vaulting Pole and the Flimsy Shovel, both of which will allow you to cross rivers. If you do not talk to Blathers, you will not be able to cross rivers. You will need to search the beaches for a spring of water that emerges from the sand once you have crafted a Shovel. An example of such a spring is depicted in the following image:

Even if the water spurt stops, you should keep using your shovel (which you can activate by pressing A) in the area where it was coming from and around it until you find a manila clam. This should be done regardless of whether or not the water spurt stops. After you have uncovered it in Animal Crossing, your character will have an idea for a do-it-yourself recipe to try once you've found it.

Return to a workbench, either your own or Tom Nooks', find the recipe for Fish Bait in the Other section, and then use the manila clam to craft some Fish Bait. This can be done at either workbench.

Utilizing Fish Bait is a Very Straightforward Process. When you get to the spot where you want to fish, open up your inventory (X) and select the option to use Fish Bait. This will allow you to cast your line and catch some fish.

You will need to do this right next to the water, but as soon as you use the Fish Bait, a fish will appear in front of you to be caught. You can then eat the fish.

Learning about fish shadows is an important part of the New Horizons mission.
Fish shadows, also known as fish silhouettes, will have a form that is extremely similar to one another but will be of varying sizes early on in the game. This similarity in form will continue throughout the game.

Although the size of the silhouette can provide some insight into the possible species of fish that have been caught – with sizes of shadows appearing in the form of extra-large, large, medium, small, and extra-small – the presence of a larger shadow does not necessarily indicate that the fish that have been caught are of a higher value. This is because the size of the fish that have been caught can vary greatly.

There are a few other fish shadow shapes in New Horizons, in addition to these particular ones. The heads of the vast majority of species of standard fish are round, and their bodies gradually narrow into triangular shapes as they move backward. On the other hand, eels typically have a body that is more slender and have an appearance that is comparable to that of a snake.

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players have the opportunity to take control of sharks. The presence of a dorsal fin on the fish shadow indicates that you are looking at the shadow of a shark, which is a species of fish that can be caught in the ocean.

There are a number of factors, such as the season, the time of day, the hemisphere on which you are fishing, and the time of day, that can influence the types of fish that are present in an area. One of these factors is the time of day.

The best time of the year to go fishing in ACNH, as well as the best time of the year to go fishing for sharks
As you'll see in the following paragraphs, there are certain time windows that have been allotted for certain fish and sharks to make an appearance in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. These time windows are based on the level of difficulty of the player's progress through the game.

All throughout the day, between the hours of 4 am and 9 pm, and again between the hours of 9 pm and 4 am are the three periods of time in which there is a greater chance of seeing fish. If you've been fishing for a while but haven't been able to reel in any new species, the best time to fish again would be after 4 a. m. or after 9 p. m., which are the times that fall within the next time window. If you've been fishing for a while but haven't been able to reel in any new species, the best time to fish again would be after 4 a. m.