The game enters into the second segment once a fish has bitten, with the perspective changing from a first-person to a side-view, and the player has to reel it in carefully to avoid breaking the line.

[1] Virtual Fishing was developed by Locomotive Corporation, who previously collaborated with Nintendo to co-develop StarTropics and created V-Tetris under supervision of Bullet-Proof Software,[5][7] by most of the staff who would later work on SD Gundam Dimension War.

[1][8] Shinji Aoyama served as the sole programmer, while the artwork was handled by Chiho Tomita[1][8] Rie Ikeuti and Sayaka Takeda were responsible for the pixel art, while the music was composed by Akiko Hida[1][8] Like all other Virtual Boy games, Virtual Fishing sports a red-and-black color scheme and uses parallax to simulate 3D, and stereoscopic visuals to create the illusion of depth.

[5][14] In early 1996, Nintendo Power reported that the game would receive a North American localization by THQ, slated for a winter 1996 launch, but this iteration was never released.

[3] The Japanese book Virtual Boy Memorial Commemorative Guidebook gave it an average rating, stating that "it's rather nice to play in bed before falling asleep.

"[17] N64 Magazine's Jason Moore called it an "inactive game", questioning Nintendo for choosing to release the title on a system reliant on 3D hardware.

[6] Retro Gamer also criticized the title for its graphics, animations and stereoscopic 3D effect, while remarking that "its biggest problem is that it's just not exciting to play.