Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fishing Tourney guide and rewards list

Several times a year, C.J. the beaver will host a Fishing Tourney in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The first one begins on April 11 for both Northern and Southern hemispheres.

The Fishing Tourney in New Horizons isn’t about competing against other villagers. C.J. will simply give you three minutes to catch as many fish as you can. Your first attempt will be free, but it’ll cost 500 Bells for every attempt after.

Every fish you catch in three minutes earns you a point, and if you catch more than three fish, you’ll earn two bonus points. In other words, if you catch five fish, you’ll earn seven points. You can keep returning to C.J. to earn more points throughout the day, at least until the Tourney ends at 6 p.m.

Whenever you collect 10 points, C.J. will reward you with a random fish-related gift, ranging from clothing to furnishings. These items are exclusive to the event and cannot be re-purchased through Nook Shopping if you sell them.

The best way to grab fish quickly is to have a bunch of Fish Bait ready to go. Once the timer starts, just waddle up to the closest body of water, toss in the Fish Bait, and keep reeling in the fish that show up. (You can make Fish Bait out of Manila Clams dug up on the beach with your shovel.) Don’t worry if you have a full inventory — any fish you catch will instantly go to the safety of C.J.’s cooler in front of Resident Services.

Once you finish the round, you can opt to sell all the fish at once for 1.5 times the usual selling price, or you can interact with the cooler to get any of the catches out.

After you earn 100, 200, and 300 points, C.J. will note that you’ll get a special gift in the mail. You’ll get a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Fish Trophy, respectively.

The gallery below includes most of the rewards, if you’d like to see how they look in-game.

Update: We’ve added more prizes that are earnable through the Fishing Tourney.