Animal Crossing Turtles: How To Catch A Soft-shelled ... - Eurogamer

How to catch a Soft-shelled Turtle and Snapping Turtle in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

There are two turtles you can find swimming through the rivers of your island in New Horizons - the Soft-shelled Turtle and the Snapping Turtle.

Despite only being available in August to September, the Soft-shelled Turtle is typically easier to catch as it appears from 4pm to 9am, while the Snapping Turtle can only be found at night, starting at 9pm till 4am.

Since these times overlap, you can easily search any river for both turtles at the same time in either August or September.

Both turtles appear as a medium sized shadow when in the water, so it's a good idea to ignore or scare away the smaller fish that you come across. River fish are typically easier to scare away than sea fish, so you can quite easily patrol any river that you might have on your island.

If, however, you have a preferred river fishing spot, then you can make a batch of fish bait and attempt to bring the turtle to you. Though, if you don't have a good river fishing spot, but prefer using bait, you can always terraform the island using the Island Designer app.

We suggest creating a curved section of river, which will allow you to access at least two different angles. This will allow you to easily toss bait into the waters, while also keeping an eye out for any fish that naturally appear.

Just remember to connect your new section of river to the river mouth or else you risk it becoming a pond, which will change the fish available to you, removing both turtles.

Snapping turtles can be found in rivers from 9pm to 4am during April to October, while Soft-shelled turtles, which also appear in rivers, appear between 4pm to 9am throughout August and September.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0 is on its way! It will bring Zelda items, LEGO items, Splatoon items and NES games. While you wait, make sure your Museum is full of fish and bugs. Cooking, meanwhile, will let you make some tasty gifts for your villagers. If your island needs decorating, why not add some Gyroids, flowers or fruit? Don't forget to make sure you've got every tool though and that your home is up to Happy Home Academy standards. There's also your Happy Home Paradise restort too!

If you'd like to learn more about the fish that visit your island in New Horizons, then you can visit our fish guide, alongside our specialised guides on the Barreleye, Blue marlin, Giant trevally, Golden trout, Mahi-mahi, Sturgeon, Stringfish, every shark, Tuna and both the Salmon and King salmon.