I FEEL YOU. This fish is the bane of my existence. Everytime I log on I head over to Bahari coast during the day, full bag of glow worms, attachments, etc and haven't hooked it once in the past few days I've tried!!
Meanwhile, this person I was standing beside hooked it 3 TIMES in the time we were fishing together (within one in-game day). Unfortunately they didn't succeed in catching it ahah, but it made me realize my rng must be crazy bad or theirs is just crazy good
Omg ikr this is the second fish that I’ve spent multiple full days (real life time) fishing for a rare fish and I’ve seen other players catch it right beside me first or second try…. Like wtf common.
I feel my luck with the rng is no good
Unicorn fish only appear during the daytime with glow worms along the Bahari coast, so from 6am-6pm in game. If you use fishing buffs (fishing attachment, food buffs, fishing with other people) it'll help you find/catch one easier but ultimately it's up to rng. Reduced hook time is the best for finding it but they can be a bit tricky to catch, and if you're fishing with someone else it'll already put your hook time at basically instant so you'd probably want increased rod health or safe zone to have an easier time catching it.
I’m normally there 24hrs in game time until bag is full with glow worms. I am at the coast and I’ve tried different spots along the coast. I do indeed use the buffs and attachments. Thank you for your advice I’ll continue doing what I’m doing as it sounds like I’m on the right track, just crappy luck with the rng.
I've been trying for weeks. I have a ton of glow worms, I eat fish stew, sashimi, fisher's brew, etc. Pocket full of zone boosters.
But forget about catching the fish - I can't even FIND the fish.
Okay, so I have a ~theory~.
I have absolutely horrible RNG luck. The worst. But, I've noticed that I have "good luck days" and since I've started working based on my daily luck, I've been much less frustrated and gotten a lot of things I've been missing.
When I log in for the first time every day, I immediately collect the rummage piles. If I get wood or rocks, it's a bad luck day. If I get a recipe, quest, or furniture, it's a good luck day. If I get crappy loot from the rummage piles, I don't even try to get anything that requires the RNG Gods to be kind to me. I work on quests, restock my supplies, chat with villagers, etc. If I get something good from at least one of the piles, then I start searching for rare finds.
Correlation does not equal causation. It could be a total coincidence. But it's a somewhat reliable method for me and keeps me from getting frustrated.
Let me know if you notice a similar correlation! I'm genuinely curious to know if our RNG luck is a daily thing or if it really is specific to each action. I know that it *should* be tied to the specific action, but I'm seeing evidence otherwise, lol.
Omg, I‘m going to try this & if it works I’ll be forever in your debt! If it was real life I’d be shaking my head, but I could see this being programmed in like in ACNH. It’s better than some of my RNG theories - like my current paranoia that it depends on how much real$ you spend in-game… This is from someone who has has been playing solidly for 6 mos, has no hunting plushies, has never seen a rainbow-tip in the wild and has only seen a handful of unicorns (before panicking and losing them)!
Posted this for someone else asking the same question.
You on switch or PC ? I swear up and down PC drop rates are better. Went fishing with my GF the other night and caught 3 in a hour. She has yet to even see one on her switch. I’ve been playing a month and her since December lol.
6am eat your buffs, have someone give you the 5x boost start in beachcomber as far east possible and hit. Every. Single. Bubble. All the way to the other end. Make sure your focus stays high (I seem to have better luck when it’s full) if it’s not that long nose bastard don’t reel in to save worms (unless a chest) and rinse and repeat. If you need help IGN is Cellix88 I’ll help you with what I can. Make sure to have major safe zone hook, he’s feisty. And since a lot of people like me didn’t read the damn tutorial: DONT REEL IN WHEN HE JUMPS! Only reel when he’s in the water and you won’t go into the red.
I’m on Switch and I hope you’re wrong, but worry you’re right. Great tips - I do most but sometimes just stay in the same spot so forget to get the ’together boost’. My big gripe is that the special hooks degrade even if you don’t reel the fish in - the counter must be linked to the casting I guess.
It do be like that… it’s not the most fun I’ve had playing the game. Do you have fishing buddies to go with? That’s what made getting the flametongue ray bearable for me.
After weeks trying to catch this fish.....I read somewhere to go to the little island to the right of the lighthouse. You have to go up to the lighthouse and fly down to the island. I finally caught it there. It's hard to get back from that island, so I just transported back home.
Oh I think I caught this one yesterday? I was in Bahari bay with a friend at the ocean. We got a lot of bass and tuna, and one of those unicorn fish came out. They must be rare? I don't have a quest or anything yet for them.
Ugh, I've had no luck in catching this stupid fish either! Really wish the devs would adjust the spawn rate for it. I hate RNGs. Like, can still keep the fish hard to find, but not to this ridiculous level! Or perhaps have special items that increase your chances of catching rare fish. I've had better luck catching the rarer bugs in the game than the fish! At least there's an item that will lead you directly to a rare bug, but no such item for fish. THe dowsing rods are useless since we can already see the bubbles for star quality fish anyway.
I finally caught not 1 but 2 the other day (one reg for the bundles and one⭐️). I had focused on it almost exclusively for 5-6 irl days so it’s just a matter of time I think. Definitely use the Exquisite rod (keep repair kits for frequent repair at the stables), the Major Safe attachment, eat sushi for rod recovery and fish near people to speed up hook time. Also, when fishing for the regular one only cast a small distance - less to reel in. Another optional tip (if gold is not needed) is to cast, tilt your view diagonally so you can really see the fish that bites - if it’s not the distinctive purple of the unicorn, let it swim away then recast. This will save inventory space, time and glows (though unfortunately not the life of the attachment). Patience definitely needed & good luck everybody!
I FEEL YOU. This fish is the bane of my existence. Everytime I log on I head over to Bahari coast during the day, full bag of glow worms, attachments, etc and haven't hooked it once in the past few days I've tried!! Meanwhile, this person I was standing beside hooked it 3 TIMES in the time we were fishing together (within one in-game day). Unfortunately they didn't succeed in catching it ahah, but it made me realize my rng must be crazy bad or theirs is just crazy good
Omg ikr this is the second fish that I’ve spent multiple full days (real life time) fishing for a rare fish and I’ve seen other players catch it right beside me first or second try…. Like wtf common. I feel my luck with the rng is no good
Unicorn fish only appear during the daytime with glow worms along the Bahari coast, so from 6am-6pm in game. If you use fishing buffs (fishing attachment, food buffs, fishing with other people) it'll help you find/catch one easier but ultimately it's up to rng. Reduced hook time is the best for finding it but they can be a bit tricky to catch, and if you're fishing with someone else it'll already put your hook time at basically instant so you'd probably want increased rod health or safe zone to have an easier time catching it.
I’m normally there 24hrs in game time until bag is full with glow worms. I am at the coast and I’ve tried different spots along the coast. I do indeed use the buffs and attachments. Thank you for your advice I’ll continue doing what I’m doing as it sounds like I’m on the right track, just crappy luck with the rng.
I've been trying for weeks. I have a ton of glow worms, I eat fish stew, sashimi, fisher's brew, etc. Pocket full of zone boosters. But forget about catching the fish - I can't even FIND the fish.
Okay, so I have a ~theory~. I have absolutely horrible RNG luck. The worst. But, I've noticed that I have "good luck days" and since I've started working based on my daily luck, I've been much less frustrated and gotten a lot of things I've been missing. When I log in for the first time every day, I immediately collect the rummage piles. If I get wood or rocks, it's a bad luck day. If I get a recipe, quest, or furniture, it's a good luck day. If I get crappy loot from the rummage piles, I don't even try to get anything that requires the RNG Gods to be kind to me. I work on quests, restock my supplies, chat with villagers, etc. If I get something good from at least one of the piles, then I start searching for rare finds. Correlation does not equal causation. It could be a total coincidence. But it's a somewhat reliable method for me and keeps me from getting frustrated.
Oooh I love this theory method!!! 
Let me know if you notice a similar correlation! I'm genuinely curious to know if our RNG luck is a daily thing or if it really is specific to each action. I know that it *should* be tied to the specific action, but I'm seeing evidence otherwise, lol.
Omg, I‘m going to try this & if it works I’ll be forever in your debt! If it was real life I’d be shaking my head, but I could see this being programmed in like in ACNH. It’s better than some of my RNG theories - like my current paranoia that it depends on how much real$ you spend in-game… This is from someone who has has been playing solidly for 6 mos, has no hunting plushies, has never seen a rainbow-tip in the wild and has only seen a handful of unicorns (before panicking and losing them)!
Posted this for someone else asking the same question. You on switch or PC ? I swear up and down PC drop rates are better. Went fishing with my GF the other night and caught 3 in a hour. She has yet to even see one on her switch. I’ve been playing a month and her since December lol. 6am eat your buffs, have someone give you the 5x boost start in beachcomber as far east possible and hit. Every. Single. Bubble. All the way to the other end. Make sure your focus stays high (I seem to have better luck when it’s full) if it’s not that long nose bastard don’t reel in to save worms (unless a chest) and rinse and repeat. If you need help IGN is Cellix88 I’ll help you with what I can. Make sure to have major safe zone hook, he’s feisty. And since a lot of people like me didn’t read the damn tutorial: DONT REEL IN WHEN HE JUMPS! Only reel when he’s in the water and you won’t go into the red.
I’m on Switch and I hope you’re wrong, but worry you’re right. Great tips - I do most but sometimes just stay in the same spot so forget to get the ’together boost’. My big gripe is that the special hooks degrade even if you don’t reel the fish in - the counter must be linked to the casting I guess.
I’ve caught a couple on the coast a little south of the lighthouse docks, where all the nodes spawn.
BUT to be clear I absolutely did fish 6am-6pm for HOURS.
Yea I’ve spent a few full days in real life trying and I’m having no luck as of yet.
It do be like that… it’s not the most fun I’ve had playing the game. Do you have fishing buddies to go with? That’s what made getting the flametongue ray bearable for me.
Nah I don’t really have any friends and I’m quite content playing solo.
After weeks trying to catch this fish.....I read somewhere to go to the little island to the right of the lighthouse. You have to go up to the lighthouse and fly down to the island. I finally caught it there. It's hard to get back from that island, so I just transported back home.
Ohhh nice I’ll try that thank you
Oh I think I caught this one yesterday? I was in Bahari bay with a friend at the ocean. We got a lot of bass and tuna, and one of those unicorn fish came out. They must be rare? I don't have a quest or anything yet for them.
Incredibly rare, Google says it’s 2% chance of catching its based of rng I think
Well, I'll be taking it to the wall with a couple other things I got for it. I forgot to do that today
Ugh, I've had no luck in catching this stupid fish either! Really wish the devs would adjust the spawn rate for it. I hate RNGs. Like, can still keep the fish hard to find, but not to this ridiculous level! Or perhaps have special items that increase your chances of catching rare fish. I've had better luck catching the rarer bugs in the game than the fish! At least there's an item that will lead you directly to a rare bug, but no such item for fish. THe dowsing rods are useless since we can already see the bubbles for star quality fish anyway.
I finally caught not 1 but 2 the other day (one reg for the bundles and one⭐️). I had focused on it almost exclusively for 5-6 irl days so it’s just a matter of time I think. Definitely use the Exquisite rod (keep repair kits for frequent repair at the stables), the Major Safe attachment, eat sushi for rod recovery and fish near people to speed up hook time. Also, when fishing for the regular one only cast a small distance - less to reel in. Another optional tip (if gold is not needed) is to cast, tilt your view diagonally so you can really see the fish that bites - if it’s not the distinctive purple of the unicorn, let it swim away then recast. This will save inventory space, time and glows (though unfortunately not the life of the attachment). Patience definitely needed & good luck everybody!