Big Bass – Keeping it Reel Slot Review
Half of Big Bass – Keeping it Reel sits above the waterline and half sits under it, the grid submerged among columns of rising bubbles while a bearded fisherman leans in from the corner with his rod angled skyward. This is the rare Big Bass game that punishes you for catching fish too slowly: every value you leave swimming goes into a landing net that leaks spin by spin, and the whole bonus is a race to cash the net before it empties.
Pragmatic Play has tuned this one gently against type. It’s a low volatility entry in a series better known for its brutal spells, running 96.07% RTP on a 5×4 grid with 10 paylines and a 10,000x max win. That cap matches Big Bass Bonanza and Big Bass Splash, so the ceiling hasn’t moved; the ride towards it has. The landing net is what makes it worth a cast.
Base Game & Features
Wins pay left to right on adjacent reels from the leftmost reel, across 10 fixed paylines. All wins are multiplied by the bet per line, and only the highest combination counts on each line. Nothing unusual there. Bets run from 0.10 to 250 per spin.
The fisherman is the wild, substituting for everything except the scatter, and he only shows up during the free spins round. The scatter appears on all reels and is the sole route into the bonus.
The base game’s own quirk is a hook. When exactly two scatters land without a third, there’s a chance a hook animation drags another one onto the screen and triggers the round anyway.
The fish symbols are also FISH MONEY symbols, taking a random money value on every spin that can be won only inside the free spins feature:
- 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, 10x, 15x, 25x
- 50x, 100x, 250x, 500x, 1,000x total bet
The rest of the paytable is standard series fare, with wins expressed in coins and multiplied by the bet per line:
- Bobber – 2 pays 1.00, 3 pays 10.00, 4 pays 40.00, 5 pays 400.00
- Fishing Reel – 3 pays 6.00, 4 pays 30.00, 5 pays 200.00
- Dragonfly / Tackle Box – 3 pays 4.00, 4 pays 20.00, 5 pays 100.00
- Fish Platter – 3 pays 2.00, 4 pays 10.00, 5 pays 40.00
- A / K – 3 pays 0.40, 4 pays 5.00, 5 pays 20.00
- Q / J / 10 – 3 pays 0.40, 4 pays 2.00, 5 pays 10.00
Ante Bet
An Extra Chance of Scatters toggle changes how the game behaves depending on the selected bet multiplier:
- 10x bet multiplier – normal play
- 15x bet multiplier – more scatters on the reels, a better chance of triggering the round naturally, and the bonus buy switched off
Whichever way you set it, the RTP stays at 96.07%.
Free Spins & the Landing Net in Big Bass – Keeping it Reel
Three, four or five scatters award 10, 15 or 20 free spins respectively. Inside the round, every wild that lands collects all fish money values on screen, and all wilds that hit during the feature stay collected until it ends.
The Landing Net
This is the mechanic the game is named for. Any fish money symbol that hits but isn’t collected has its value stored in a landing net. Each free spin, a random fish escapes the net and its value is subtracted. The net is leaking, in other words, and it leaks every single spin.
The GOLDEN WILD is the answer to that leak. It appears only during the feature, collects all fish money on screen like a normal wild, and also takes the current value of the landing net in full. It’s the only way the net’s accumulated total ever gets paid.
Retrigger Ladder
Every fourth wild collected retriggers the feature with 10 more spins and raises the collection multiplier:
- First retrigger – 2x fish money multiplier
- Second retrigger – 3x
- Third retrigger – 10x
Retriggered spins play after the current batch ends, the multiplier applies to them, and after the fourth level the feature can’t retrigger again. Hitting that 10x tier with a fat net and a golden wild on screen is where the 10,000x cap comes into view; reaching it ends the round immediately, awarding the win and forfeiting anything left in play.
Dynamite, Hook and Boat
Three rescue modifiers fire randomly at the end of a free spin when the screen has half of what it needs. When fishermen are present but no fish, the dynamite spin can blast fish money symbols into random positions.
When fish are present but no fisherman, a hook appears and pulls a random reel up to bring fishermen onto the screen. And when fishermen are there but no fish, a boat drives across the game dragging a net that replaces random symbols with fish money, with special reels in play for the duration.
Buy Free Spins
The round can be bought from the base game for 100x the current total bet. On the triggering spin, three, four or five scatters can hit at random, so the buy doesn’t guarantee the top scatter count. The RTP on the buy is the same 96.07% as everything else. The buy isn’t available with the ante bet switched on.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
Playing this one is a gentler day on the lake than the series usually offers, and the reason to choose it over its siblings is the net: the bonus round gives you a running total to root for and to fret over, which is more than most Big Bass games ever manage. When a golden wild finally drags a heavy net out of the water, it lands harder than the same win would anywhere else in the family.
The leak is also the problem. The golden wild arrives on its own schedule, not yours, and rounds where it never shows leave the accumulated value slipping away one fish at a time. That’s the price of the design, and it stings in a way a plain miss doesn’t.
Low volatility on a 10,000x cap means the long grind to the big numbers rarely feels like it’s building anywhere fast. This suits players who like the Big Bass formula but would rather their bankroll survived the session, and anyone who enjoys a bonus round with something to keep track of. Chasers of the ceiling will find their patience better rewarded elsewhere in the series. For a calm afternoon on this particular water, though, the net alone makes it worth the trip.
Big Bass – Keeping it Reel FAQs
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What is the RTP of Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
The RTP is 96.07%, and it stays there whether you play normally, use the ante bet, or buy the free spins. -
Is Big Bass – Keeping it Reel high volatility?
No, it’s a low volatility game. Wins tend to come more often and in smaller amounts, though the 10,000x max win is still on the table. -
How does the landing net work in Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
In the free spins round, uncollected fish money values go into a landing net instead of disappearing. One fish slips out again on each spin and its value comes off the total. Only the golden wild can scoop what’s left in the net. -
How do you retrigger the free spins in Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
Every fourth wild symbol collected retriggers the feature with 10 more free spins and increases the fish money collection multiplier, stepping from 2x to 3x and finally 10x. After the fourth level, no further retriggers are possible. -
Can you buy the bonus on Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
Yes, the free spins round costs 100x your current total bet. The triggering spin can land three, four or five scatters at random. You can’t use the buy while the Extra Chance of Scatters toggle is on. -
What is the maximum win on Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
The maximum win is capped at 10,000x your bet. If a round’s total win reaches that figure, the round ends immediately, the win is paid, and any remaining features are forfeited. -
How many paylines does Big Bass – Keeping it Reel have?
It has 10 fixed paylines on a 5×4 grid, with all symbols paying left to right from the leftmost reel. -
What is the minimum and maximum bet on Big Bass – Keeping it Reel?
Stakes start at 0.10 and go up to 250 per spin. The Extra Chance of Scatters toggle makes each spin costlier by using a 15x bet multiplier rather than the standard 10x.
