hey i've been trying to catch a shark on the island on my 3ds animal crossing new leaf and i've yet to catch one.  every time it "bites" the hook (taking the ball under water) i push A and it swims off.  it happens to me every time.  i dont have a gold rod on the island and i've heard that having one increases my chances.  is that true or is there another way to catch one?

I find it's best to have the 3DS sound full blast, so that you can hear when the shark pulls on the bait. Also by having your thumb ready hovering closely over the A button to press it, you'll be able to reel the fish in easily.

I hope this works for you!

When I'm catching sharks (or any fish, really) I use headphones, have the sound up louder than normal, and rest my thumb on the A button, and I tend to close my eyes when I know the fish has noticed the bait, and rely on the sound (because you can get excited when you see it approaching and press the button before it actually bites, so closing your eyes helps prevent you from doing that). As soon as I hear the *bloop* of the fish biting the hook, I press A.

How many times do the fish approach the hook before biting? I think the max is 5 times, and I think sharks are more likely to approach more (4 or 5 times) than other fish. Make sure you're not pressing A before it actually bites the hook (sometimes I lose fish doing that)

well every time the ball goes under the water thats when I push A and every time it runs away yet other fish it doesn't do that to me just the sharks and the more expensive kind of fish that are hard to get.  I also just have the basic rod but I don't know if that does anything or not but I've yet to catch any of the more expensive fish like sharks and goldfish and all.

I was doing some fishing on the island last night and also lost some fish I was too impatient for at least one of them, but some of the others I just didn't react quick enough (or I reacted too quickly)

Try fishing with headphones on, with your thumb resting on the A button, and once you know it's interested in the bait, close your eyes, and listen for (or ignore) the *dooh* noises, and press A when you hear the *bluop* noise. You do need to be quick enough. If you're not sure about this method you can try it on the easier fish first to try to get better at reacting to the sound quicker.

I think what the silver/golden rod does is make it so the fish holds onto the bait for longer. It doesn't really matter if you're catching Island fish because you can't take either with you, you can only use the basic rod.

The max amount of hits are 5 so go for the A button on the 5th hit.

Some of the fish are harder to catch when it's your first catch for the museum.  Relaxing and closing your eyes are helpful.  Sometime you can catch a lot of rare fish and other days the game give you just a few.

I know how to fish and I have caught tons of sharks before on my wii but I'm just having issues with it on the 3ds.  I know that once the ball goes under the water you push A and only questions is does it matter what pole I have and how I can get a better fishing rod on the island.

You can only have the regular fishing rod on the island sadly.


Even though I can catch almost anything flawlessly, I have the most trouble when trying to catch stuff on the island. It's frustrating, I know.

You can still catch sharks during Summer but that probably isn't ideal since it's not Summer all year round in your town. The only thing I can suggest is turning up your volume, looking away, and hitting A when you hear that "ploop" sound when it takes the bait. It's a method that's worked for me. When I stare and use my eyes, I seem to always try to reel it in too early.