Big Bass Trophy Catch: Reel In the Power Ups

The fishing trip continues. Big Bass Trophy Catch is the newest entry in Pragmatic Play‘s long-running fishing series, released on April 16, 2026, and built in collaboration with Reel Kingdom. It brings the familiar collector formula back to the water, but this time with a set of Golden Power Up Coins that add an extra layer of randomness to the bonus round. If you know the series, you know the drill. If you are new to it, this is a solid place to start.

Game Overview

• Provider: Pragmatic Play / Reel Kingdom
• Grid: 5×3, 10 fixed paylines
• RTP: 96.50% (default)
• Volatility: High
• Max win: 5,000x
• Bet range: €0.10 to €240 (up to €360 with Ante Bet)
• Hit frequency: 12.90% (approx. 1 in 7.75 spins)
• Key features: Scatter Collection, Fisherman Wilds, Golden Power Up Coins, Free Spins, Ante Bet, Bonus Buy

Theme and Design

The action takes place underwater, with light filtering down through pale green water and bubbles drifting across the screen between spins. It is clean and polished, consistent with every other entry in the series. The lower-paying symbols are the usual bold card royals, while the higher-value spots go to bobbers, dragonflies, tackle boxes, and the bass fish itself, which sits on a golden background as the top premium symbol.

Three colored fishermen stand to the left of the reels, each tied to a scatter collection meter. They are not just decorative. They actively track your progress in the base game and give you something to watch while waiting for the bonus to trigger. The sound design sticks to ambient water effects and short musical cues on wins, nothing intrusive. Overall, the presentation is familiar and functional.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Big Bass Trophy Catch plays on a 5×3 grid with wins forming left to right across 10 fixed paylines. Matching three or more symbols from the leftmost reel pays out, with the top premium fish symbol awarding between 20x and 200x for a full five-of-a-kind. Card royals pay between 0.20x and 10x.

The base game includes a Scatter Collection mechanic. When two scatters land, one of the three fishermen collects them and a random chance to trigger Free Spins follows. Land three, four, or five scatters outright and you receive 10, 15, or 20 Free Spins respectively. A hook animation can also randomly pull a third scatter into view when two have already landed, giving you one more way into the bonus without buying in.

Features and Bonus Rounds

Fisherman Wilds

Wilds only appear during Free Spins and substitute for all symbols except scatters and money symbols. Every time a wild lands, it collects the total value of all Fish Money symbols visible on the grid at that moment. Those values can range from 2x to 5,000x the bet, but are only paid out through wild collection. The collection payout happens at the end of each spin, so getting multiple money symbols on screen before a wild lands is exactly what you want.

Retrigger Multipliers

For every four wilds collected during Free Spins, the bonus retriggers with 10 additional spins and a higher multiplier. The first retrigger sets the multiplier to 2x, the second moves it to 3x, and the third and final retrigger pushes it all the way to 10x. That escalation is where the biggest hits in Big Bass Trophy Catch are built.

Golden Power Up Coins

This is the freshest mechanic in the package. Golden Power Up Coins can land during Free Spins and turn either red, blue, or green, each tied to one of the three fisherman modifiers. Red adds more Fish Money symbols to the reels. Blue adds more Fisherman Wilds. Green doubles all wins by 2x. The modifiers apply for the remainder of the feature, so landing one early makes a real difference to where the round ends up.

Random Base Game Boosts

Three random animations can fire during Free Spins to keep things moving. If at least one wild is on screen but no money symbols are present, a bazooka may add money symbols. A hook animation can bring both wilds and money symbols onto the grid at once. These are not guaranteed, but they show up often enough to feel like meaningful variance rather than decoration.

Ante Bet and Bonus Buy

Activating the Ante Bet increases your stake by 50%, which adds more scatters to the reels and raises the natural trigger frequency. For players who want to skip the base game entirely, a 100x bet buys the standard Free Spins, while a 300x Super Free Spins buy activates all three modifiers from the very first spin. Both buy options maintain the 96.50% RTP.

RTP, Volatility and Win Potential

The default RTP for Big Bass Trophy Catch sits at 96.50%, which holds across all play modes including the Ante Bet and both buy options. Some operators may offer lower RTP variants at 95.50% or 94.51%, so it is worth checking before you play. Volatility is high, meaning the base game can run quiet for stretches before the bonus delivers. The maximum win is capped at 5,000x, which is a more grounded ceiling compared to the 1,000-series entries in the Big Bass lineup. On average, it takes around 114 base game spins to trigger the bonus.

Who This Slot Is For

Big Bass Trophy Catch is built for players who already enjoy the series and want another solid version of what Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom do best. The 5,000x cap and high volatility make it a better fit for players with some patience and a comfortable bankroll rather than those chasing a quick session. The Ante Bet is a smart middle ground for anyone who wants more frequent bonus action without committing to a full buy. Newcomers to the Big Bass formula will find the mechanics easy to follow and the bonus genuinely exciting when the multipliers start stacking.

Final Thoughts

Big Bass Trophy Catch does not reinvent the series, and it was never trying to. The Golden Power Up Coins add some genuine decision-making tension to the bonus, the retrigger multiplier structure keeps the free spins engaging, and the 96.50% RTP is a fair return for a high-volatility game. It is comfortable, well-built fishing slot content from a team that clearly knows this formula inside out. Cast the line, wait for the bonus, and hope the green modifier lands early.