Fishin’ Bear Slot Review
A grinning brown bear sits in a yellow canoe straddling the top of the screen, rod out over the reels, line dangling towards murky water where the real business of this game is done. Because that’s the thing about Fishin’ Bear: the line wins barely matter at all. This is a slot where the regular paytable is close to decorative, and nearly every spin’s meaning comes from whether fish with values attached turn up next to the one Wild who can count them.
It comes from 3 Oaks, a studio with form in jackpot-and-collect territory – 3 SuperPower Diamonds and 4 Dragon Pearls work similar ground. Fishin’ Bear runs on a 5×3 grid with 25 fixed paylines, and builds its play around bonus symbols carrying prizes of up to 1,000x your total bet, with a free spins round, a collect mechanic and a bonus buy priced at 75x. The cheerful children’s-book artwork never lets on how single-minded the maths underneath it is.
Base Game & Features
Twenty-five fixed lines pay left to right across the five reels, with simultaneous wins on different lines added together and only the highest combination counting on each one. It’s a conventional setup, and the game doesn’t complicate it. Wins need three or more matching symbols from the left.
The premium symbols are the fishing kit, and their pays, in multiples of the total bet, look like this:
- Raft: 0.60 for three, 1.00 for four, 3.00 for five
- Tackle Box: 0.30 for three, 0.60 for four, 2.50 for five
- Boots: 0.30 for three, 0.50 for four, 2.00 for five
- Reel: 0.30 for three, 0.40 for four, 1.50 for five
Those are modest numbers. The top symbol returns 3x for a full line, and every other premium falls away from there. Line wins here exist to keep the bankroll ticking over while you wait for the bonus symbols to land, and the game is built around that patience.
One bear runs the show as the Wild, restricted to the middle position of the third reel. He fills in for everything except the Bonus symbols, holds his spot through free spins, and brings the Collect Feature with him whenever he shows up.
Bonus Symbols and the Jackpot Ladder
Bonus symbols appear on all five reels and pay only inside the Collect Feature. Each carries a value of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5x your total bet, and four of them carry the jackpots instead:
- GRAND: 1,000x total bet
- MAJOR: 50x total bet
- MINOR: 20x total bet
- MINI: 10x total bet
That Grand jackpot of 1,000x the total bet is the game’s ceiling, and reaching it means landing the Grand symbol in view while the Collect Feature fires. The ladder steps down steeply from there – the Major pays a twentieth of the Grand – so the gap between the top prize and everything else is where this game’s character lives.
Collect Feature
Land the Wild together with any fish and their values are totalled and paid on top of the spin’s winnings. It’s a simple sum, but it’s the engine of the whole game: because Bonus symbols land on every reel and pay nowhere else, every screen with fish on it is a screen waiting to be counted.
The feature can also trigger during free spins, played at the free spins’ triggering bet. A board carrying several fish plus a jackpot symbol is where the meaningful money in Fishin’ Bear changes hands.
Rewind Features
Two random modifiers can arrive on any spin. Wild Rewind runs in the main game only and guarantees the Wild symbol appears, which in turn guarantees a Collect trigger. Fish Rewind can fire in both the main game and free spins, and guarantees one to three Jackpot Bonus symbols land.
The pair work as setup and payoff. Wild Rewind manufactures the trigger; Fish Rewind makes sure there’s something worth collecting when it lands. Neither is dramatic on its own, but together they keep the base game from going fully quiet.
Fishin’ Bear Free Spins & Bonus Features
Free Spins activate at random, awarding either eight or sixteen spins, and the round can be won inside itself as well as in the main game. The line count stays at 25 and the spins play at the triggering bet.
Sticky Fish Feature
Inside free spins, the fifth reel gets its own mechanic. Bonus symbols that land there stick in place for the duration, and their values change on every spin. A sticky fifth reel gradually fills with fish, which makes each subsequent spin a little heavier than the last.
The Wild also sticks during the round, parked in the middle of reel three. With a locked Wild holding the centre and fish accumulating on the right edge, free spins are where the Collect Feature does its biggest sums. Retriggers are on the table too, extending the round when they land.
Buy Bonus
If waiting for the random trigger doesn’t appeal, the free spins round can be bought outright for 75x your total bet. The spins begin immediately after purchase, play at the triggering bet, and you can’t buy with an insufficient balance.
At 75x, the buy is priced well above what the smaller jackpot tiers return, so the maths only works out if the sticky fifth reel and a locked Wild combine into a substantial Collect sum. The round you buy awards the same eight or sixteen spins a natural trigger would, at the same bet – there’s no enhanced version behind the counter.
Our Honest Verdict
Overall Rating: 6.4/10
Playing Fishin’ Bear mostly means watching screens go by while you wait for one specific thing: a bear next to enough fish. That’s the honest shape of it, and it’s a more hypnotic loop than the cheerful artwork suggests. When the Collect Feature finally fires on a busy board, it lands harder than anything the line wins could ever give you.
Free spins are the best thing here, because the locked Wild and the sticky fifth reel build towards something instead of resetting every spin. The weakness is the base game between those moments – it pays thinly, and the jackpot ladder drops off a cliff after the Grand, so most Collect sums are small change.
This is one for players who like waiting for a build, the patient type who’d rather accumulate fish than chase line wins. Anyone who wants regular decent payouts from the reels themselves will spend a lot of time looking at a very contented bear. He’s in no hurry, and honestly, neither is this game.
Fishin’ Bear FAQs
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How many paylines does Fishin’ Bear have?
Fishin’ Bear has 25 fixed paylines, paying left to right across the 5×3 grid. Only the highest win on each line is paid, and wins on different lines are added together. -
What is the grid size of Fishin’ Bear?
The game plays on a 5×3 grid – five reels and three rows – with 25 fixed paylines. -
Can you buy the bonus on Fishin’ Bear?
Yes. The Buy Bonus option lets you purchase the free spins round outright for 75x your total bet. The spins play at the triggering bet and start immediately after purchase. -
How does the Collect Feature work in Fishin’ Bear?
Land the Wild together with any Bonus symbols and all fish in view are totalled, their values added to the spin’s winnings. Bonus symbols carry values of 1x to 5x the total bet, or one of the four jackpots. -
What does the Sticky Fish Feature do?
During free spins, Bonus symbols that land on the fifth reel stick in place for the rest of the round, and their values change on each spin. This lets the reel build up fish values as the round goes on. -
Can free spins be retriggered in Fishin’ Bear?
Yes. Free spins activate at random in both the main game and within the free spins round itself, so the round can retrigger and extend. The round awards either 8 or 16 spins. -
What jackpots does Fishin’ Bear have?
There are four jackpots: the Grand at 1,000x your total bet, the Major at 50x, the Minor at 20x and the Mini at 10x. They’re attached to Bonus symbols and pay through the Collect Feature. -
Where does the Wild symbol appear in Fishin’ Bear?
The Wild is the bear, and it only appears in the middle position of the third reel. It substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus symbols, sticks in place during free spins, and its arrival triggers the Collect Feature. -
Who makes Fishin’ Bear, and when was it released?
Fishin’ Bear is a 3 Oaks release. The game’s release date is 9 May 2024.
