How to Catch a Neon Tetra – Animal Crossing New Horizons

It's time to track down a very small, but hard to find fish in the Neon Tetra! We've got a look at the best methods on how to catch a Neon Tetra in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It's not a big seller in terms of cash, but you will need to find it to finish that Critterpedia and obtain the Golden Fishing Rod!

How to Catch a Neon Tetra

Let's take a look at the Neon Tetra's Critterpedia information because it's vital to know when you can actually catch this thing. This is a night time spawn, so you'll be looking to stay up late to grab this one.

• Northern Hemisphere: April - November
• Southern Hemisphere: October - April
• Active Hours: 9am - 4pm
• Shadow: Smallest
• Location: River
• Price: 500 Bells

The shadow of the Neon Tetra is very small, so it's not too hard to distinguish. It appears to be a bit larger then the bass shadow, but it will be hard to tell. We've got a look at the Neon Tetra's shadow below. Credit to rinimt for the image.

There's a few different methods I employ to catch rare fish, and it's generally easiest with something that spawns in the river. One tip to follow is that you shouldn't go to the clifftop areas, because that add more possible fish to your spawns.

Mystery Island Method

Fish spawn quite a bit faster on a mystery island, so scaring the ones you don't want away will generate more fish. Use the methods listed below to scare fish until you see a shadow that could be the right size. Cast your line after that fish and see if it's the one you're looking to catch! If not, continue scaring fish until you find another potential shadow.

• Sprint (hold B-button) and run along the river to scare them
• Pole vault across the river near the fish
• Cast towards a fish, get them to bite, and reel it in without catching the fish. This scares away the fish you got to bite and other nearby fish!

Fish Bait/Hard Resets

Fish bait can be gotten by running around your beaches and looking for dark holes that spout out water. Use your shovel on one of these locations to obtain a Manila clam. Gather a bunch of these up and head to the crafting table. You can use them to create Fish bait. Once you've got the bait, head over to a part of the river. Scatter the bait into the water, and you will get a guaranteed fish spawn. If the shadow isn't the right size, just throw in more bait. Repeat until you get the one you want!

If you don't want to continue to farm Fish bait, then you can use the reset method to make things easier. What you need to do is gather up 10 or so bait, and then go to a river. Wait for your game to auto-save, look at the top right of the screen for the spinning dot icon. Once that happens, start throwing bait into the water and look for the shadow that is the size of the Neon Tetra. Cast at any that match the size! If you don't catch one, hit the Home button on your controller and fully close Animal Crossing. You have about 2 minutes between auto-saves (if you see the auto-save indicator, DO NOT close the game or your save might be corrupted), so just make sure to reset before the next save! This will put you back to where you saved previously and you will have all of your bait. Repeat this method until you catch the Neon Tetra!