There's Always a Bigger Fish

There's Always a Bigger Fish

A rework of fishing mechanics, adding new biome-specific fish to catch and a bait system!

by
5.2K Downloads
fabricneoforgegame-mechanics
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Screenshots

A selection of fish!
Big fish!
Lava fish?

About this Mod


fabric
Made for Mod Garden: Nature


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

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 two 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.
  • 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

Asset license (Unlicensed)
Code license (MIT)

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.

Available Versions

There's Always a Bigger Fish 1.1.1 for 1.21.1 NeoForgebeta
MC 1.21.1neoforge
May 19, 2026
There's Always a Bigger Fish 1.1.1 for 1.21.1 Fabricbeta
MC 1.21.1fabric
May 19, 2026
There's Always a Bigger Fish 1.1.1 for 26.1 NeoForgebeta
MC 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2neoforge
April 30, 2026
There's Always a Bigger Fish 1.1.1 for 26.1 Fabricbeta
MC 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2fabric
April 30, 2026
There's Always a Bigger Fish 1.1.0 for 26.1 NeoForgebeta
MC 26.1, 26.1.1, 26.1.2neoforge
March 24, 2026

How to Install There's Always a Bigger Fish on Your Server

1

Order Server

Order a Minecraft Java server with at least 3 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).

2

Set fabric Loader

In the panel under "Egg", select the fabric loader and matching Minecraft version (26.1.2).

3

Install Mod

Open the mod browser in the dashboard and search for "There's Always a Bigger Fish". Click "Install" – done! Alternatively, upload the .jar via SFTP to the /mods folder.

Compatibility

Mod Loaders

fabricneoforge

Minecraft Versions

26.1.2, 26.1.1, 26.1 (+18 more)

Server-side

Required

Recommended RAM

4 GB(min. 3 GB)

Frequently Asked Questions

There's Always a Bigger Fish server crashes on startup – what to do?

Most common cause: wrong fabric version or insufficient RAM. Check the server log (latest.log) for "OutOfMemoryError" or "Mixin" errors. With Mado Hosting: ensure at least 3 GB RAM is allocated and the loader matches the mod version (26.1.2). You can switch loaders with one click in the panel.

Is There's Always a Bigger Fish compatible with fabric and neoforge?

There's Always a Bigger Fish officially supports fabric, neoforge for Minecraft 26.1.2, 26.1.1, 26.1. The Mado dashboard automatically detects incompatible loader combinations.

Server lagging with There's Always a Bigger Fish – how to optimize performance?

Recommended RAM: 4 GB (per 8 players). Use /spark profiler to check if There's Always a Bigger Fish consumes the most tick time. Common fixes: reduce server view-distance to 8-10, install "performant" or "starlight" as supplementary mods on Forge. With Mado Hosting, your server runs on NVMe SSDs with dedicated CPU cores for minimal latency.

Rent Modded Server

Install There's Always a Bigger Fish with just one click on your server.

Recommended RAM
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Min. 3 GB | +1 GB pro 8 Spieler
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Details

License
LicenseRef-Multiple
Server-side
Required

Supported Versions

26.1.226.1.126.11.21.111.21.11-rc31.21.11-rc21.21.11-rc11.21.11-pre51.21.11-pre41.21.11-pre3+11 more