CatchNCook

CatchNCook changes how fishing works in Minecraft. Instead of salmon instantly turning into an item when killed, they become physical fish that you recover, haul back to camp, cook, and eat.

The mod features larger salmon models, cooking sounds, hungry wolves, and optional compatibility with Carry On for transporting and storing your catch.

GETTING STARTED

Hunt and kill a salmon in the water.

Instead of dropping an item, the salmon becomes a physical corpse that rises to the surface.

Recover your catch and bring it back to camp by dragging it or carrying it with Carry On.

Place the fish near a supported heat source to cook it, or eat it raw once placed on land—with a small risk of sickness.

Unrecovered salmon disappear after approximately 5 minutes.

CatchNCook must be installed on both the client and server.

COOKING YOUR CATCH

Place your salmon near a supported heat source to begin cooking.

Fish cook gradually, changing appearance as they progress through different stages. You’ll also hear sizzling as they cook.

Supported heat sources:

• Lit Campfires
• Lit Soul Campfires
• Magma Blocks

Cooking distance:

• Normal surfaces: Up to 2 blocks from a campfire.
• Heat-retaining surfaces: Up to 3 blocks from a campfire.
• Magma Blocks: Direct contact.

Heat-retaining blocks include Brick, Andesite, Blackstone, and Deepslate.

COOKING TIMES

These are approximate cumulative times under continuous heat using the default configuration.

Cooking times can be changed in the configuration. Removing a fish from heat interrupts its progress toward the next stage.

Taking a bite immediately stops further cooking.

Fully cooked fish can burn if left on close heat for too long.

EATING YOUR FISH

Sneak + Right-click a placed salmon while hungry to take a bite.

Each bite visibly removes part of the fish.

RAW SALMON

Raw salmon can be eaten only when placed on land.

• A whole raw fish provides 4 bites.
• Each bite restores 1 hunger point—half a drumstick.
• The whole fish restores 4 hunger points—2 full drumsticks.
• Eating raw salmon has a 3% sickness chance per fish, causing Hunger for 30 seconds.

The sickness check happens once per fish, rather than once per bite.

COOKED SALMON

Cooking improves the food value of your catch. Edible rare and medium fish restore less hunger than fully cooked fish.

Burnt fish cannot be eaten and can be broken into ash.

Fish can also be broken down into vanilla salmon items where applicable.

Once you’ve started eating a fish, it can no longer be stored or cooked further.

DRAGGING YOUR CATCH

CatchNCook includes its own dragging mechanic, so Carry On isn’t required.

With both hands empty, right-click a recovered salmon to begin dragging it. Interact again to release it.

Dragging slows your movement, making long journeys with your catch more challenging.

The fish automatically disconnects if:

• You move too far away.
• You change dimensions.
• You mount another entity.
• You leave the world.

An optional visual dragging rope is available but disabled by default.

With Carry On compatibility enabled, fish pickup uses carrying instead. Disable the compatibility setting if you prefer native dragging.

HUNGRY WOLVES

Wolves can take an interest in your catch before it ever reaches a campfire—including raw fish.

Nearby eligible wolves may notice fish you’re carrying or dragging. If you’re still in the water, interested wolves wait nearby on land instead of swimming after you.

Wild wolves may try to steal your catch with a single attack that releases the fish. After a successful release, you have a 3-second grace period to move away before their guarding behavior resumes.

Wolves can approach, guard, and eat fish on land. Retaliating or approaching a guarded fish can provoke aggression.

Sitting, combat, and other important wolf behaviors take priority over their interest in fish.

CARRY ON COMPATIBILITY

CatchNCook includes optional compatibility with Carry On, expanding how you transport and interact with your catch.

With compatibility enabled, you can:

• Pick up and carry recovered salmon.
• Place fish onto campfires.
• Mount fish on walls.
• Store pristine raw fish inside supported containers and vehicles.
• Retrieve stored fish.
• Sell fish to villagers.

CONTROLS

Pick up a fish: Right-click it with both hands empty and no other object being carried.

Store a fish: Right-click a supported container while carrying a pristine raw fish.

Retrieve a fish: Sneak + Right-click a supported container holding fish, with both hands empty and no carried object.

Empty fish storage leaves ordinary container and Carry On interactions available. 

FISH STORAGE LIMITS

Only pristine raw fish can be stored. Heated, cooked, burnt, or partially eaten fish cannot be placed into storage.

Important: Fish stored in a chest are permanently lost if that chest is broken. Retrieve your fish before breaking it.

Carry On compatibility can be disabled in CatchNCook’s common configuration if you prefer native dragging.

JADE SUPPORT

When Jade is installed, you can view a salmon’s cooking stage directly in-game:

• Raw
• Rare
• Medium
• Cooked
• Burnt

RECOMMENDED MODS

Carry On: Expanded fish carrying, storage, wall mounting, and villager trading.

Jade: Displays cooking stages when looking at fish.

Fresh Animations: Improved salmon visuals.

Snowy Spirit: Fish storage inside sleds.

Trotting Wagons: Fish storage inside wagons.

AstikorCarts: Fish storage inside supported supply carts.

FUTURE PLANS

I’m planning to expand CatchNCook beyond salmon.

Cod is next on my list, and I’d eventually like to include the rest of Minecraft’s fish, along with sea creatures from other mods.

I’d also like to expand interactions with wolves and cats, including feeding them fish to restore health or help with taming.

More Carry On features are planned, including the possibility of eating fish while holding them.

Cooking animations, eating animations, and fish models are also things I’d like to continue improving.

These are plans for future updates and aren’t guaranteed features yet.