Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Catch Turtle

There’s plenty to catch in Animal Crossing New Horizons if you’re a fan of fishing, but it’s not just fish that are lurking beneath the water. Two types of turtles can be caught, too: Snapping, and Soft Shell variety. Here we’re going to run through how to catch a turtle in Animal Crossing New Horizons.

Before we crack on with explaining the techniques for both, you’ll obviously need to make sure you have a fishing rod before attempting this. You can read our detailed guide on how to get a fishing pole for more information if you haven’t got one already.

Also, if you have absolutely no idea how to even fish then definitely start with our guide on fishing basics first.

How to Catch a Turtle in Animal Crossing New Horizons

Before we get into specific, here’s a pro tip: to scare away smaller fish shadows, you can pole vault from one side of the river to the other. This is effective for clearing out the area in preparation for your turtle catch.

Further, always remember that islands visited using a Nook Miles ticket tend to have a better chance for spawning turtles. That isn’t to say you won’t find one on your island, but it’s just less likely.

Soft-shelled Turtle

First things first, the soft-shelled turtle can be caught between the hours of 4 PM – 9 AM, and only between the months of August – September (northern hemisphere), and February – March (southern hemisphere).

Of course, this means you won’t be able to get one in either hemisphere right now. You will need to change the date via your Nintendo Switch system settings and time travel if missed you out.

Now, onto the turtle’s actual description. The soft-shelled variety spawns in rivers only, and when you fish for it you’re looking for a medium shadow size. We recommend staying away from river mouths and attempting to fish on the first level of a river (stay away from areas with clifftops).

Soft-shelled turtles sell for 3,750 Bells.

Snapping Turtle

As for the more voracious variety of turtle, the snapping turtle is also found in rivers and we also recommend fishing for it in a similar spot to the soft shell (away from river mouths and clifftops).

The snapping turtle spawns between 9 PM – 4 AM. In the northern hemisphere April – October are the months to catch them, while in the southern it is October – April.

The snapping turtle has a pretty large shadow so, as mentioned earlier, you’ll want to scare away smaller shadows and only focus on areas where bigger ones are.

Snapping turtles sell for an impressive 5,000 Bells.

That is everything there is to know about how to catch a turtle in Animal Crossing New Horizons. For more useful tips and guides on the game, be sure to check out Twinfinite’s detailed wiki guide specifically for the game.

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