This weekend sees the very first Fishing Tourney contest take place in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, presenting the chance for you to earn prizes and swag in this community event.
The first Spring Fishing Tourney will run from 9am to 6pm local time on Saturday 11th April, and is one of the regular month-to-month activities that Nintendo hopes will keep players returning to their peaceful deserted island existence.
You will need to head to the tent in the plaza outside Resident Services to join in, where you will find C.J. waiting to “bring the hype” and get things started. The energetic beaver explains that the Fishing Tourney is about showing off the sport from all angles, as “catching fish is just the bait.”
Every hook, every line, and every sinker will count, with the “easy breezy” rules for this once-a-season event simply challenging you to catch as many fish as you can in three minutes.
Every fish that you catch will score you points, and, if you earn enough points, you can swap them with C.J. for some “slick fish swag.” The fish that you catch will automatically get stowed in the Cooler at his tent, so you don’t need to worry about your pockets becoming full (or getting wet).
That means that all you will need is a Fishing Rod to compete, although you may want to craft a new one so that you won’t need to worry about it breaking part of the way through. However, you may also want to use Bait to help you keep attracting fish to the same location to save you time and bump your score up.
You will get bonus points for catching three or more fish, and, for catching seven fish on our first attempt, we were rewarded with 9 points.
The best part is that you can enter as many times as you like, although, apart from the first time you enter when it is waived, you will need to pay a 500 Bells entry fee each time. The more that you compete, the more Fishing Tourney prizes that you can earn, and you will need at least 10 points before you can claim your first prize.
For every 10 points that you earn, C.J. will reward you with a random item. These appear to be fish-themed, as the first Fish Tourney prize that we received was a Fishing-Rod Stand. We are starting to compile the prizes that we receive in a list below – let us know if there’s something that we’ve missed!
Remember that you can sell the fish that you catch, and, when sold to C.J., you can expect the prices to be slightly higher than normal compared to Nook’s Cranny. So, not only can you score prizes but you’re earning Bells to bump up the balance of your Bank of Nook account at the same time.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available exclusively for Nintendo Switch worldwide.
Animal Crossing New Horizons Fishing Tourney Prizes List
- Anchor Statue
- Fish-Drying Rack
- Fish-Print Tee
- Fish Doorplate
- Fish Pochette
- Fish Print
- Fish Rug
- Fish Umbrella
- Fish Wand
- Fishing-Rod Stand
- Fresh Cooler
- Marine Pop Wall
- Tackle Bag
