
Animal Crossing New Horizons: How to Catch a Betta
These small, tropical fish are difficult to find, but we can show you how to catch a betta of your own.
One of the smaller, rarer fish in Animal Crossing New Horizons is the betta, a little blue fish with frilly fins. Below we'll show you how to catch a betta and how much they're worth when sold.
On this page:
How to Catch a Betta in Animal Crossing New Horizons
You can catch a betta by fishing in the right areas, at the right times. Once you have a fishing rod, make sure these conditions are met:
- Bettas will spawn in rivers, not ponds or oceans.
- They appear in the months of May-October (Northern Hemisphere) or November-April (Southern Hemisphere).
- Bettas appear during the day, between the hours of 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. They cannot be encountered at night.

Betta Shadow Size
Bettas have the second-smallest size of shadow in the game, so you should be aiming to catch any fish that's clearly smaller than average. If there aren't any such shadows in the rivers, scare them away or catch them, leave the area, then return
How Much Do Bettas Sell For?
Bettas are worth 2500 bells when sold to Nook's Cranny, despite their small size. If you can wait for CJ to show up, he'll buy them off you for even more, raising the price to 3750 bells. We can tell you when CJ will show up on your island at our guide here, or if you want to know what other fish are currently available, we've got that listed over here.
There's nothing betta than USG's own Animal Crossing content, even if our puns could use some work. Hirun's story on New Horizons' changing economy is just over here, or have a look at Mat's story on how Hong Kong protests are impacting the game's sales abroad.
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