What to know about CJ's Animal Crossing: New Horizons July fishing tourney

The calendar for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is populated with various holidays and events for players to experience every month and season. While July doesn't have any holidays despite the game's latest update happening on July 3, the next event starts extremely soon. The event in question is the Fishing Tourney run by everyone's favorite eager beaver, CJ.

If you like catching fish and want to get some nice aquatic-themed rewards, then you'll want to know when CJ's fishing tourney starts, how to play, and what you get from it.

When is the July Fishing Tourney start time in Animal Crossing?

For players in the Northern Hemisphere, CJ's Fishing Tourney will happen on July 11. As is the case with all day long events, it will only be available from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. that day. While you should try to log on and play Animal Crossing: New Horizons this weekend if you want to participate in this event, all is not lost if you miss it. The Fishing Tourney is going to happen again on October 10, so you can time travel or wait until then to experience it. Alternatively, you could travel back in time to January 11 or April 11.

How to enter, and win, CJ's Fishing Tourney in Animal Crossing

Once the event starts at 9 a.m. on July 11, simply walk to your plaza and talk to CJ. If it's your first time for the day, you'll be able to participate for free; if you've already done the event, the entry fee will be 500 Bells.

As soon as you say you want to participate and stop talking to CJ, you'll have 3 minutes to catch as many fish as you possibly can. You don't have to catch any specific fish, so it's all about quantity. That said, 5 new fish have appeared in the Northern Hemisphere this month: the Blue Marlin, Napoleonfish, Ocean Sunfish, Puffer Fish, and Sweetfish. These new creatures should at least spice things up visually.

You'll get 1 point from CJ for every fish you catch during the 3 minutes. If you manage to get over 3 fish during a run, which is very manageable, then you'll get an additional two points. Rack these up all day, as this point system is how you get rewarding for participating in CJ's fishing tourney.

Overall, it's a straightforward event that's quite similar to Flick's Bug-Off. As long as you are used to the button timing for fishing, know where to look for fish, and have a spare fishing rod in case the one you're using breaks, you should be able to rack up a lot of points in no time.

It's also probably a good idea to spend any time before the event digging up Manila Clams on the beach (look for the little holes that spit up water!). You only need one to craft a single Fish Bait bag. Then you can scatter the food in any body of water to attract extra fish.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fishing Tourney Rewards

You can exchange 10 points with CJ for a special aquatic item. While the exact item you get is initially randomized, there are a variety of Anchor Statues, fish doorplates, drying racks, fish prints, and fishing rod stands as well as a fish pochette, rug, umbrella, wand, t-shirt, cooler, wallpaper, and tackle bag that he can give you.

For players that score into the 100s, there are extra rewards: For 100, 200, and 300 points, you'll get a Bronze, Silver, and Gold Trophy, respectively. There's nothing new about these items if you got them in the last fishing tourney, so keep that in mind if you participated in the previous tourney back in April. Still, if you didn't get the game before the last fishing tourney, then this is a really fun Animal Crossing: New Horizons event that you can do to kill some time on Saturday.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available on Nintendo Switch.