Animal Crossing: New Horizons – How to Fish
Equip the Fishing Rod by going into your inventory (X) and selecting to Hold the item (A).
Or, you can cycle through your tools until you get to the Fishing Rod by pressing Left or Right.
Stand near water, not necessarily right on the edge of a bank, and then press A to cast your line.
When your lure is in the water, you can press A again to reel in your line and cast again (A).
To catch a fish with the Fishing Rod in New Horizons, you’ll want to cast your lure close to the fish’s head or at least in front of the fish.
The head of the fish is usually the larger, more spherical part of the silhouette.
You will also need to make sure to never use the sprint button (hold B) around water because you’ll scare the fish away.
When your lure is in the water, you have to wait for the fish to come to the lure.
Most of the time, the fish won’t hook on immediately: it will nibble the lure.
If you press A again before the fish takes the bait, the fish will swim away.
You have to watch and wait for the fish to pull the lure underwater. When this happens, press A to hook the fish, and then continue to press the A button as much as you can to battle the fish to shore.