Play Fishing Derby Online

Fishing Derby came out for the Atari 2600 in 1980, published by Activision. It was one of those early two player games that felt genuinely competitive, a simple concept built for the hardware of its time. You and a friend each controlled a fisherman on opposite sides of the screen, trying to out-fish each other in a small, blue pond.

You control your fisherman's hook, moving it left and right to drop it into the water. The main goal is to catch more fish than your opponent, with the first to reach 99 pounds declared the winner. The key mechanics involve timing your reel to snag fish as they swim by, while also avoiding a persistent shark that will steal your catch if you're too slow. The game escalates quickly; the deeper you go, the bigger the fish, but the greater the risk. It feels like a constant, frantic race against another person and the ever-present threat below.