Animal Crossing: Wild World/Fishing

Fishing
Catching all the fish available in AC:WW may seem like a lot of work, but with this guide hopefully things will become a little clearer for you.

First, you will need a fishing rod. You can buy one at Tom Nook's for 500 bells. You can also get a free fishing rod from Tortimer outside the town hall during Fishing Tournaments.

The key to fishing is getting the float in front of the fish. The fish will not go for the line if it cannot see the float. Getting this right may take time, but once you can cast the float correctly in the fish's line of sight, you will be catching plenty. Another thing that takes a couple of tries to get right is reeling the fish in. Generally, the fish will swim towards the float and nibble at it 2 or 3 times, though sometimes it will pull it under straight away. You have to pay attention so that you don’t miss your opportunity to reel it in. To catch a fish, you have to tap the stylus or press as soon as the fish pulls the float under the water and makes a distinctive *plop* sound.

Now that you know how to fish, what exactly can you do with them?

Donate them to the Museum
The museum is empty until you start donating things. Blathers is more than happy to take a newly caught fish from you, as long as you haven’t already donated that specific breed. When you donate a fish to Blathers, he’ll tell you a number of facts about that fish and usually the best ways to cook it! Once you’ve donated the fish, you can check the Fish section of the museum and see all the fish you have donated.

Sell them to Tom Nook
Tom Nook will buy any and all fish you have. The price he pays differs depending on species. Some fish sell for 200 bells, while other fish (like the Stringfish) can sell for 15,000 bells! This is handy to help pay off that mortgage!

Give them to a resident
Every so often residents in your town will want certain items. Usually these items are clothes, furniture, bugs or fish. If you are able to provide the villager with the fish (or item) they requested you will usually receive a reward. This can be money or another item.

Display them in your house
There are certain fish that you will be proud of catching. Sharks make interesting talking points when you have friends in your town via Wi-Fi. It is also handy to store larger fish in your house while you wait for the fishing contest.

Fishing areas
The fish available to catch depend on several different factors such as time of day, month, and even weather conditions. If you are trying to get a particular fish first be sure you are fishing in the right area.

There are five different fishing locations.
 * 1) Holding Pond
 * 2) Pond
 * 3) River
 * 4) Ocean
 * 5) Waterfall

There are also a number of times that certain fish will be available to catch. Here they are split up into 4 different sections:
 * 1) Morning: 4:00am-9:00am
 * 2) Noon: 9:00am-4:00pm
 * 3) Evening: 4:00pm-8:00pm
 * 4) Night: 8:00pm-4:00am

List of Fish
There are a number of fish that you can catch all year round; however, most fish are only available for a couple of months out of the year. This means you’ll have to fish for the whole year in order to catch them all.

For a full list of the fish available to catch in Animal Crossing: Wild World, please go to the list of fish.

Other info
Fish aren't the only items that you can get when fishing. Every so often you will catch tin can, old tires or old boots. These items look like fish when they are in the water, so there is no way of telling when you will get these. Don't leave these 'rubbish' item lying in your town, you can either take them to the town hall and leave them in the recycling bin or you can give them to Tom Nook who will happily depose of the items on your behalf.