To start, fans that are trying to catch a Golden Trout in Animal Crossing: New Horizons should know that it appears from the beginning of March to the end of May as well as from the beginning of September to the end of November in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This means that ACNH’s Golden Trout is available for half of the year, and that should give players ample time to bag one of these relatively rare fish.
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Furthermore, the spawn times for Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Golden Trout are limited, and it only can be found from 4pm to 9am. Thus, ACNH players that are on the hunt for this fish should not try to catch it in the late morning or early afternoon, as their efforts will simply go unrewarded.
With respect to where to find a Golden Trout in New Horizons, they can only spawn in the rivers that are located in clifftops. As such, fans will need to equip their ladders and head up to an elevated river to catch a Golden Trout. Once they are there, they should begin looking for a fairly large shadow (a visual reference for the Golden Trout’s shadow size can be seen in the video above), and players can use fish bait in ACNH to speed up the spawns in these waterways.
To summarize, players that are trying to catch Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ Golden Trout should fish between the hours of 4pm and 9am in the months of March, April, May, September, October, or November. They should focus their efforts on clifftop rivers and target any large shadows that they see. While following these instructions will certainly not guarantee a Golden Trout on every cast, players will catch one eventually, and they can then sell it at Nook’s Cranny for 15,000 Bells if they so choose.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now for Nintendo Switch.
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