Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sturgeon Trick

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sturgeon is one of the most lucrative fish in Nintendo's newest town-building simulator.

Behind the legendary stringfish lies the sturgeon, a slightly less difficult to catch and, therefore, slightly less expensive fish that will be migrating out of your waters at the end of March. Players have been clamoring to find this elusive fish and the other rare catches before time runs out.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sturgeon: Everything You Need to Know

The sturgeon appears from September to March and only in one spot along your river: the river mouth. It can be caught at any time during the day so there's no reason to be shy about camping out where your river meets the ocean. Its shadow size is very large, which makes sense considering it takes both of the player's hands to hold it.

A single sturgeon can go for 10,000 bells. They are classified as "scarce" which is only one rung lower than the infamous stringfish.

So far, the sturgeon has only shown up in New Horizons.

Some players claim success with a "sturgeon trick" to guarantee a successful spawn and catch. It works as follows:

1. Get a NookMiles Island Ticket and go to a random Nook Island.
2. Chase away all the fish that spawn in the river when you arrive.
3. Go to the mouth of the river and look for the fish shadow. If the shadow you find is small, chase it away and repeat Step 2.
4. Continue with repeating Steps 2 and 3 until you find a large fish shadow in your river mouth.
5. Catch the large shadow. It will most likely be the sturgeon.

It may take several repeats to finally find the sturgeon you've been searching for. The general consensus from the community, however, is that the grind is definitely worth it.