Big Bass Bonanza is the slot that started a phenomenon. Released by Pragmatic Play and developer studio Reel Kingdom in December 2020, this fishing-themed video slot has spent the past five years as one of the most-played online slots in the UK, and it remains the cornerstone of a Big Bass series that now spans dozens of sequels and variations. If you have played a slot at a UK online casino in the last few years, chances are you have seen this one.
The game runs on a classic 5-reel, 3-row grid with 10 fixed paylines, and the appeal is in the simplicity. Cast out your line, spin the reels, and chase those golden Money Fish symbols. Volatility sits in the medium-to-high bracket, meaning the base game can feel steady before the bigger wins arrive through the Free Spins bonus. Stakes for UK players range from 10p to £5 per spin in line with current regulation, with the maximum win climbing to 2,100x your stake.
What turned Big Bass Bonanza into a modern classic is the Free Spins round, with its build-up of Fisherman Wilds collecting Money Fish values, the meter-driven retriggers, and the multipliers that climb up to 10x. It is the structure that has been borrowed and re-used across the entire series, from Big Bass Splash to Big Bass Bonanza Reel Action, but the original still holds its own. Does it succeed, or is it a title best left floundering? Spin the reels at talkSPORT BET Casino and find out.
To play Big Bass Bonanza for real money, you’ll first need to create an account at talkSPORT BET. Before that, consider checking out our Casino bonus offers page for special bonuses like deposit matches to take your play even further.
To create an account, head to the account creation page and enter your user information. This can be done on both mobile and desktop systems, and a step-by-step guide will lead you through the process.
If you want to play for real money, you’ll also need to head to the deposit page and deposit via the payment option of your choosing. If you want to try a demo of the game for free, you can go straight to the game with no money down.
To find Big Bass Bonanza slot, navigate to our casino section, and type Big Bass Bonanza into the search bar. Select the title in either demo mode or regular play, and it will open.
Once in the game, you can change your bet by pressing the plus and minus buttons at the bottom of the game screen. This will bring up a tab letting you change your coins per line, coin value, and total bet. Once happy with your selection, press the Spin button to begin a round of play.
To minimise losses, it's best to get some experience with the demo version of the game first and understand exactly how slot games work. If you're unsure or have concerns about unsafe betting, then consider exploring our Safer Gambling portal for everything you need to know.
As you might have guessed from the name, Big Bass Bonanza's symbol centres on fishing iconography, as well as the classic playing card symbols famous in many slot games. The high-paying symbols above the playing cards include a tackle box, dragonfly, rod and reel, and a fishing float.
The scatter symbol in Big Bass Bonanza is a jumping fish that can appear on all reels. The Wild symbol is the fisherman himself, set against a sunset and holding his catch. Wild symbols can appear on all reels in the free spins bonus game and can substitute for any symbol except the scatter.
Also available is the fish money symbol, which takes the form of a pile of fish.
| Value of 3 matches | Value of 4 matches | Value of 5 matches | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10 |
| Jack | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10 |
| Queen | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10 |
| King | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10 |
| Ace | 0.5 | 2.5 | 10 |
| Fish | 1 | 5 | 20 |
| Tackle Box | 2 | 10 | 50 |
| Dragonfly | 2 | 10 | 50 |
| Reel | 3 | 15 | 100 |
| Floater | 5 | 20 | 200 |
This is where Big Bass Bonanza earns its reputation. The base game is intentionally clean and simple, no wilds, no random extras, just paylines and Money Fish symbols. All the excitement is built around the Free Spins round, the Fisherman Wild collection mechanic, and a multiplier ladder that climbs through retriggers.
The Money Fish is a green fish symbol carrying a random monetary value. It can land like any regular symbol on the reels, with each fish randomly assigned a multiplier from a range that runs 2x, 5x, 10x, 25x, 50x, all the way up to 2,000x your stake on a single symbol. In the base game these pay out as normal symbols. The real power kicks in during the Free Spins round.
Land 3 or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels in a single spin to trigger the Free Spins feature:
During the Free Spins, the Fisherman Wild enters the game on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5. Every time a Fisherman Wild lands, he "catches" every Money Fish symbol currently on the screen, sweeping their values together into your win total. The bigger the round, the more Money Fish accumulate, and the bigger the collected wins become.
Here is the clever bit, and it is what separates Big Bass Bonanza from its imitators. Every 4 Fisherman Wilds collected during the Free Spins round retriggers the bonus with 10 additional free spins, and crucially, each retrigger applies a bigger multiplier to all Money Fish values:
The maximum is 3 retriggers per round. Hit the third retrigger and that 10x multiplier applied to a screen full of high-value Money Fish is exactly how you chase the 2,100x top win.
A few things worth knowing before you cast out:
Fishing titles are some of the most popular in the world of slot games, with the Big Bass series in particular offering a great selection of titles. If you’re looking to explore new waters, consider the following games: