Without a model number makes it almost impossible to help much. Please post a model number.

But try taking off the back cover and look for a fried mouse! I know that sounds gross but seen it before. Check in your fan where the vent connects too.
Nat

This recently happened to me. The cause? The power cord was scorched and when the dryer was running it emitted this "fishy" smell. Detach the power cord and see. Is it scorched? Smell it. Does it not smell "fishy?" If the answer is yes, go to either Home Depot or Lowes (or any hardware or Sears stores) and get a replacement. Should run you about $13. Bring the power cord with you if you are not sure what to get and ask someone knowledgable to help you. If you are not sure how to detach and reattach the power cord, google "how to replace power cords on dryers" for a video. The smell was gone after I replaced the cord.

Yes, you are correct! After posting about the power cord needing replacing, we too ended up having to replace the outlet, as well. Therefore, we ended up replacing the outlet and cord and have not had any problems since. These sites really save money because you don't have to hire someone to fix the problem.

We had a strong dead animal or fishy odor after having our dryer ducts cleaned, which was very full of line. HINT don't wait 21 years to have your duct cleaned.
After the cleaning, we noticed a very strong fishy, musty odor when running the dryer. I immediately called the company who cleaned the duct and had the. Redo the duct. They re-fastened the duct and it seemed fine. Then three days later the odor was back! I was beyond frustrated! Then I read the forum above. I removed the electrical 220V outlet and smelled it. Bingo ! I had my wife smell it too. That was it. I noticed than one of the. Cord blades was discolored with green and purple colors. The cord was less than a year old so a little steel wool took care of that. I replaced the receptacle and a cost of about $6 and no more odor! Many thanks to the people who posted this solutionas they may have saved our home! Cheap fix to a big potential problem. THANK YOU.

I’m so thankful I found this thread! Our dryer had smelled progressively more and more like fish for months. My husband cleaned out all the filters, changed out the ductwork, and we still had the fish smell. It had gotten so bad that we had stopped using the dryer and were on the verge of buying a new one. Then I found this and bingo! One of the prongs on the cord was scorched and after taking the outlet off, we saw that it was melted in one spot. Less than $30 to buy a new outlet and cord and a good friend that’s an electrical engineer installed everything and we are good to go! Yay! We would never have dreamed that an electrical problem like this would smell like fish!