Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake: Slot Overview

When Big Bass Bonanza launched in 2020, it surged out of the Pragmatic Play/Reel Kingdom stable and kicked off a franchise that’s either endlessly entertaining or an absolute headache. That’s not really because of the first game itself, but because it has generated well over a dozen sequels. A few have been pretty left-field too, like Big Bass Day at the Races, yet this particular entry arguably tops the lot. Called Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake, it blends the familiar Fisherman character and core mechanics with the long-running Legends of King Arthur. Yes, that’s exactly what it’s doing.

Given this feels like the 357th BB instalment (it isn’t, but it can feel that way), most players will already know the routine: a watery setting and a free spins round where the Fisherman symbol hoovers up fish money symbols. Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake delivers that. Is there much value in labouring the narrative beyond saying it’s fishy, Arthurian-y, and goldeny?

Not particularly, so let’s switch to the numbers for Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake. To begin with, players can wager from 10 c to $/€250 per spin. There’s also an Ante Bet option which, for an increase to the bet of 50%, gives more scatter symbols on the reels, improving the odds of activating free spins. Rated highly volatile, Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake runs on a default RTP of 96.07%, regardless of whether you use the bonus buy.

Starting at the bottom, the paytable includes 10, J, Q, K and A, followed by a tackle box, a dragonfly, a reel, and a float. Landing 5 matching royals returns 5 to 10 times your stake, while 5 matching high symbols pay 20 to 200 times the bet. The Fisherman wild can replace any standard paying symbol, but it only appears during free spins

Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake: Slot Features

Much of what follows will be familiar from previous entries, with the main twist being the Golden Lake Free Spins. Is that enough to bring in fresh fans or keep existing ones satisfied?

Money Symbols

Fish money symbols appear carrying multipliers of 2x to 5,000x the bet. They may also create line wins worth up to 20 times the bet. The random money values shown on them can only be collected during free spins.

Free Spins

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatters awards 10, 15, or 20 free spins respectively. When 2 scatters land in the base game, there is a chance the third is randomly pulled into view via a respin feature or simply added after the initial spin outcome. Before the feature begins, players pick a card to reveal either the regular free spins round or the Golden Lake Free Spins feature. In regular free spins, whenever the Fisherman symbol (the wild) lands, it collects all values from any money symbols currently visible. Fisherman symbols are collected too. Each 4th Fisherman symbol collected retriggers the feature, granting 10 free spins and applying a multiplier for money symbols of x2, x3, or x10 for the second, third, and fourth level, respectively. Once the fourth level is reached, retriggers stop.

Golden Lake Free Spins

In this mode, all regular pay symbols are removed from the reels, meaning only blanks, fish money symbols, or Fisherman symbols can land. Each spin pays any winning money-symbol combinations, and the Fisherman collects money symbols. As in the other mode, Fisherman symbols are collected when they appear to advance the feature. Every 4th Fisherman symbol collected retriggers the feature, awarding 10 free spins and a multiplier for money symbols of x2, x3, or x10 for the second, third, and fourth level, respectively. After the fourth level, no more retriggers are possible.

Free Spins Features

Across both free spins modes, if fishermen symbols are present but no money symbols land, money symbols can randomly appear at the end of the spin. If money symbols are showing but there’s no Fisherman when the spin ends, a hook may randomly pull a Fisherman symbol into view. Finally, if a Fisherman symbol is on the reels while there are no money symbols, the remaining symbols may be transformed into something else.

Buy Free Spins

You can pay 100x the bet for a random chance to win free spins or Golden Lake Free Spins, or pay 270x to purchase Golden Lake Free Spins.

Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake: Slot Verdict

FML, Pragmatic Play has properly cracked open Pandora’s Box here. At this stage, there’s seemingly no ceiling on where the Big Bass series can go. And once Prag moves, plenty of others tend to trail behind. It’s reached the point (or maybe passed it) where basically anything can be bolted onto a fishing slot to help it “stand out.” What’s next? It’s genuinely hard to picture. Pairing King Arther with Big Bass (along with a 5,000x win cap) is undeniably bold, but it’s also a little alarming to consider what might follow. Picture a world where every new Big Bass game becomes a full-on Googlewhack of ideas. Yep—welcome to what’s coming.

It’s strange to remember when the phrase Big, Bass, and Bonanza meant almost nothing in gambling. Yet that used to be true. Not only did Pragmatic Play and Reel Kingdom’s Big Bass Bonanza end up attracting a huge fanbase, but the studios have also kept the BB conveyor belt running, pushing out new versions at a pretty intense pace. The issue is that if you keep iterating on the same formula, you’d assume you eventually run out of ways to dress it up. Apparently not for Pragmatic Play & Co., and this release is proof. Big Bass Secrets Of The Golden Lake suggests there’s still a very, very long road ahead before they run out of extra concepts to weld onto their Big Bass slots.