Game stories

Who is behind the Big Bass Bonanza fisherman?

It is easy to remember Big Bass Bonanza’s bearded fisherman and miss the Reel Kingdom name in the corner. Yet the game sits among Pragmatic Play slots in the catalogue. Where did the second name come from? The story leads through a team with land-based gaming experience, flaming sevens and an Egyptian tomb. The fisherman came later.

ThomasProject editor

Updated 30 Oct 2026 Sources: 8

Promotional artwork from the 2020 Big Bass Bonanza announcement. Currency signs are blurred; numbers are preserved.

Two names on one screen

In June 2020, Pragmatic Play introduced Reel Kingdom as a young studio founded by gaming industry veterans. The team had previously worked on land-based casino games and AWP machines — machines offering cash prizes — for Britain and other European markets.

Their joint games were released through Pragmatic Play. The announcement at the time explicitly described Reel Kingdom’s portfolio as exclusively distributed through that provider. The two names reflect that partnership: Reel Kingdom helped create the slots and Pragmatic Play released them in its line-up. The announcement does not detail the individual responsibilities of artists, programmers or mathematicians.

Sources: [1]

Sevens and mummies came first

The first collaboration named in the June announcement was Hot to Burn. Its release announcement appeared on 20 May 2020: five paylines, flaming sevens and the look of an old fruit machine. Ultra Burn followed on 4 June, with three reels, the same five paylines, cherries, BARs and sevens.

By October the studio had changed the scenery. Return of the Dead moved to Egypt: a book served as both wild and scatter, while a chosen symbol could expand to fill a reel during free spins. December’s Big Bass Bonanza announcement named Return of the Dead as the preceding collaboration.

Demo · USD

Hot to Burn

20 May 2020

Sweets and fruit

RTP: 96.71%
Max Win: x1,000

Free play Play demo

Demo · USD

Return of the Dead

21 Oct 2020

Gods and ancient worlds

RTP: 96.71%
Max Win: x20,000

Free play Play demo

Sevens and mummies came first
Announcement	Game	What appeared on screen
20.05.2020	Hot to Burn	Five paylines and flaming sevens
04.06.2020	Ultra Burn	Three reels, fruit and BARs
21.10.2020	Return of the Dead	Egypt, a book and an expanding symbol
14.12.2020	Big Bass Bonanza	Fish values and a fisherman collector

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4]

How the fisherman collects the fish

The original Big Bass Bonanza uses a 5×3 grid. Fish carrying money values appear in the base game, but collection takes place during free spins. There the fisherman appears as a wild and collects the values of visible fish. The scene is easy to follow: the fish show what can be collected, and the fisherman triggers the collection.

That makes it easy to mistake a value on a fish for money already awarded. The screenshot below shows 1,600 and 2,400 while the game is waiting for another spin. Those symbols alone do not confirm a payment. Separate line combinations are paid according to the paytable.

Big Bass Bonanza base game with fish values, two scatters and Reel Kingdom at the bottom left — Big Bass Bonanza before a spin. Reel Kingdom appears at the bottom left. Currency signs are blurred; values are preserved.

Sources: [5]

Four fishermen extend the trip

Three, four or five scatters in the original Big Bass Bonanza award 10, 15 or 20 free spins. Attention then moves to the fishermen: every four collected wilds add another 10 spins. The first retrigger sets the collection multiplier to ×2, the second to ×3 and the third to ×10. Fishermen accumulate across spins; four do not need to appear together.

For an illustrative collection by one fisherman, suppose the fish show 2×, 5× and 10× the bet. Together that is 17×. At the ×2 stage, the collection pays 34× the bet. This example covers the fish collection only, excluding other line wins. It shows why the trail matters: the same fish values pay with a different multiplier at a later stage.

Big Bass Bonanza introduction with fishermen and ×2, ×3 and ×10 multipliers — The original introduction shows groups of four fishermen, extra spins and the next collection multipliers.

Sources: [5]

When one fishing trip became a series

On 27 March 2023, Pragmatic Play announced Big Bass Hold & Spinner. Alongside the familiar free spins came a separate coin bonus: three coins open a mode in which they stay in place. There are four respins to find more coins, and each new coin resets the counter to four.

An announcement on 28 August 2023 introduced Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways as the tenth game in the series. This version has six reels of varying heights and tumbles. Its coin bonus starts with three respins. Even the two releases sharing Hold & Spinner in their names offer different numbers of attempts.

When one fishing trip became a series
Rule	Hold & Spinner	Hold & Spinner Megaways
Grid	5×3	6 reels of varying heights
Separate coin bonus	3 or more coins	3 or more coins
Respins at the start of the coin bonus	4	3
Tumbles	No	Yes

Sources: [6] [7]

What to look at next

Start with the original Big Bass Bonanza. Its introduction screen shows the four-fisherman groups and the extra 10 spins at later stages. That connects the character’s history to his job in the bonus.

Then open Big Bass Vegas 1000. Red and blue fishermen fill two separate trails in that version, with every four of one colour extending the bonus. The fisherman is familiar, but there are now two progress tracks to follow. Our Big Bass comparison covers more differences between editions, while the Vegas 1000 review takes a closer look at its counters.

Sources: [5] [8]

Questions and answers

Why is Big Bass Bonanza listed as a Pragmatic Play game?

It was released in partnership with Reel Kingdom and joined Pragmatic Play’s line-up. The 2020 announcements name both parties; June’s announcement describes Reel Kingdom’s portfolio as exclusively distributed through Pragmatic Play.

Do all Big Bass games use the same rules?

No. The coin bonus in Big Bass Hold & Spinner has four respins, while Hold & Spinner Megaways has three. Vegas 1000 gives red and blue fishermen separate trails. The full edition name matters.