Animal Crossing: New Horizons/Fishing Tourney

The Fishing Tourney is a reoccurring event that takes place every second Saturday of January, April, July, and October. It is an event similar to the ../Bug-Off/. For participating in these occasional events for the first time, you will complete a ../Nook Miles/ task. The rewards are 300; 500; 1,000; 2,000 Nook Miles. The events do not have to attended in order.

This competition is not held if you have no yet upgraded ../Resident Services/.

Fish catching
On the day of the event, C.J. sets up a tent at the Plaza. You can start a round of the Fishing Tourney any time from 9 AM to 6 PM. The first round is free and every subsequent round cost 500 Bells to start.

You will be given 3 minutes to catch as many fish as possible. Every catch is rewarded by 1 point. Catching at least 3 fishes gives you a bonus of two points. There is also a multiplayer bonus: You do not have to watch your inventory space as all fishes caught during the round will be teleported to the cooler in C.J.'s tent. If you catch something you want to keep (museum donation, model commission), you can retrieve the fishes from the cage by interacting with it after the timer is off. You can sell the fishes in the cage to C.J. for 1.5x the regular price.
 * 5 additional points (5-9 total fishes caught)
 * 7 additional points (10-14 total fishes caught)
 * 10 additional points (15+ total fishes caught)

Additionally, you can sell any fishes you catch outside the competition to C.J.. The option to do so is under "There's something else..." → "Let's sell some fish!"

Strategy

 * Craft plenty of fish bait
 * Fish bait is made using 1x manila clam, so be prepared to dig a lot of splashing spots to create fish bait. Using this fish bait near a body of water will cause a fish to automatically appear next to that water spot.


 * Get near water
 * Once the tourney starts, immediately run towards the closest plot of water. If you cannot find any nearby water spots, create one using the Island Designer tool. If you are playing with friends, get close to a water spot while another player starts the game.


 * Wait and listen
 * If you pull too early or too late, you will miss the fish and it will not be counted towards your point total. If you need to catch a fish at its right time, wait, close your eyes, and listen to the fish snagging on the fish hook.


 * Use the "Call Residents" feature
 * If you call on a local resident while doing the Fishing Tourney, you can simply start a game, and then use the other player to catch fish. This process is way faster than fishing for yourself simply because the prompt that appears when catching a fish is skipped altogether.

Prize list


Every ten points you can redeem a prize. The prizes are randomly chosen.
 * (Black, Silver, Gold, White, Blue, Retro)
 * (Light Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black, Gray)
 * (Giant Trevally, Red Snapper, Blue Marlin, Squid, Black Bass, Carp, Giant Snakehead)
 * (Fish, Squid, Octopus)
 * (Natural, White, Black)

To redeem a prize, choose "There's something else..." → "Swap my points for swag!" when talking to C.J..

You can also receive trophy based on your overall score: The trophy is sent by mail the following day.
 * - 100 points
 * - 200 points
 * - 300 points