There’s Always a Bigger Fish

This mod reworks fishing mechanics, adding new biome-specific fish to catch and a new fishing rod that can have bait attached!

Installation

There’s always a Bigger Fish is a client and server mod for Fabric and NeoForge 26.1. Its dependencies are listed below.

Dependencies

• Fabric API is required on Fabric.
• McQoy is recommended to configure the mod.
• Reliable Recipe Viewer or EMI is recommended to see recipes.
• Modefite is required on 1.21.1.

Features

• The fish you catch are determined by where in the world you’re fishing from and by bait – which can be attached to the mod’s new Copper Rod in the inventory. To make this system more varied, the mod adds over 75 extra fish items for you to fish up.
• Biomes have been broken down into various categories based on their temperatures and the type of water. The temperature categories are Cold, Temperate, and Hot, and the water types are Saltwater, Freshwater, and Brackish. For more information on what fish are caught where, check Reliable Recipe Viewer!
• Fishing below Y-32 also has unique results, fish caught there are depth dwelling Cave Fish!
• This mod adds three types of bait and four hooks that have special effects. The better the bait you put on your rod, the rarer fish you catch!
• Worms are basic bait, obtained from Composters.
• Leeches are tier two bait, obtained from Drowned.
• Fish are tier three bait, obtained from fishing.
• Netherite Hooks allow you to fish in Lava.
• Diamond Hooks increase your chance of catching treasure.
• Grappling Hooks, which can be equipped onto Copper Rods to hook onto blocks and will pull you forward when you jump. The basic Grappling Hook will bounce off of walls, so try and aim for the top of a cliff.
• Sticky Grappling Hooks, made by crafting a Slime Ball with a Grappling Hook, attach to all surfaces, allowing you to scale taller surfaces easier.
• To make caught fish more unique, they’ll be assigned a random size. Boasting about big fish is encouraged and part of the intended experience.
• Fish Barrels, a storage block and item for your fish.
• Fish Barrels are crafted similar to vanilla barrels, but without a lid.
• In the world, fish can be inserted in a similar manner to composters (just right click!). An entire stack of fish is visible.
• In the inventory, fish can be inserted in a similar manner to bundles (just left click!). You can see the top fish in the barrel.
• Catching fish with a barrel in your offhand will deliver the fish directly into the barrel, keeping your inventory clean of nonstackable fish.
• Fish Traps, a way to automate the harvesting of fish.
• Place them in water to automatically catch that biome’s fish.
• The larger the water, the more likely it is that a fish will be caught.

Mod Compatibility

• This mod replaces vanilla’s fishing loot tables with its own. Where possible, modded fish have been added to this mod’s item tags, which makes them fishable with our revamped fishing system. The following mods are currently supported.
• Aquaculture 2
• Upgrade Aquatic

For more info, see the table below.

| Icon | Link | Feature Added |
|——————————————————|——————————————————————————————————————————————|———————————————————————————————————————————————|
| | Reliable Recipe Viewer | Fish Info — Info recipes showing where fish are obtained are present. |
| | EMI | Fish Info — Info recipes showing where fish are obtained are present. |
| | JEI | Fish Info — Info recipes showing where fish are obtained are present. |
| | Field Guide | Fish Info — A fish category is present in the Field Guide |
| | Farmer’s Delight (Refabricated) | Fish Meals — Additional meals featuring fish are present. |
| | Easy Shulker Boxes | Easy Inserting — Baited rods use the Easy Shulker Boxes interface rather than one based off the Bundle. |

FAQ

• Will this mod be ported to other versions/loaders?
• Currently, the mod actively supports Fabric and NeoForge 26.1. There is no plan to backport to older versions, as the mod relies extensively on 1.21+ features.
• What’s next for the mod?
• The mod will continue development, we’re currently working on an optional fishing minigame, working on making more fish mods compatible, and rebalancing the mod based on player feedback.

License

If you are thinking about using the code or assets from There’s Always a Bigger Fish, please note the mod’s licensing. All assets of There’s Always a Bigger Fish are unlicensed and all rights are reserved to them by their respective authors. The source code of the mod There’s Always a Bigger Fish is under the MIT license.

Credits

Mod design by malice_and_meat and cassiancc, textures and graphic design by malice_and_meat and programmed by cassiancc.

Designed alongside feedback from the Mod Garden and Raspberry Flavoured Discord servers, special thanks in particular to Crabbarition and Godzilla_Fan_13.

Lavashoe Crab design inspired by mundanesalad’s hot rod horseshoe crab, used with permission.