Play A Big Catch - Hold & Win Game for Free in Demo Mode

Hook, Line and One Big Feature: Gameplay Highlights

Every fisherman has a big catch story. So it feels right that Betsoft's 2024 fishing pokie A Big Catch - Hold & Win has the tall tale baked straight into its maths, with a ceiling of exactly 3,254x. Not 3,000, not 3,500. Somebody at the studio actually sat down and did the sums, and we respect that.

On paper, it looks like an easy afternoon: 5×3 reels on a sunny lake, 243 ways, high volatility, and a 96.50% RTP underneath. One thing you should know before you cast, though. There are no Free Spins in this game. None. Everything funnels into the Hold & Win round instead, which opens once six or more Bonus barrels land together. You get 3 respins; any new symbol resets them; some barrels carry the Mini, Minor or Major tags, and locking all 15 cells pays the Grand of 2,000x.

Our favourite part is the Golden Shark. When it surfaces, it eats every value sitting on the board, pays the lot as one lump, and frees up all those cells so fresh barrels can land. Each Shark also nudges the win multiplier one step up a ladder that runs from 1x to 5x, so late catches count for more. Honestly, we've reviewed a pile of hold-and-win pokies lately, and this is the smartest tweak any of them has tried. Impatient? There's a Bonus Buy too: 83x your stake drops you straight into the feature with its 3 respins, at whatever bet you're fishing with at the time.

Progressive Jackpot

Configurable Paylines

Free Spins

Autoplay

Quickspin

Gamble

Bonus Buy

Respins

Win Both Ways

Jackpot

Bonus Round

Multiplier

Adjacent Ways

Cascading Reel

Cluster Pay

Mystery Symbol

Expanding Reel

Nudges

Volatility Levels

Wild Symbol

Half Above, Half Below: Visuals & Vibes

The whole game sits on a waterline. Sky, cliffs and a patient moustached fisherman in his rowboat above it; hook, net and some drifting coral below. Simple idea, but it makes the reels feel like part of the lake instead of a box floating over one. The fish have proper cartoon personalities too. The Pufferfish always looks mildly alarmed, the Shark grins like it knows something you don't, and every symbol gets a driftwood frame, trophy-photo style. At some point we noticed we'd just been watching the bobber between spins, which tells you a lot about the pace here. 

The feature moves you to a wall of wooden barrels on the dock, where a chain of brass fishing scales hangs down the right side to track your multiplier. Someone on that art team enjoyed themselves. Add a lazy lakeside loop with little splashes on the wins, and it's an easy place to lose an afternoon.

A Lake with Good Manners

Half the screen sits above the waterline, half below, and the whole lake looks like it's posing for a holiday postcard.

An 83x Ticket to the Barrels

That long pause before pressing Buy — equal parts maths and superstition — is its own little rollercoaster, honestly.

Then the Shark Ate Everything

There's a strange second of panic when the Shark eats your winnings — then pure delight as the board resets richer.

A Tale Worth Telling Ashore

The final tally lands like a good punchline — we sat back grinning, already rehearsing how we'd tell this one ashore.

A School Worth Knowing

The paytable reads like a day on the water. Royals from 10 to A, carved out of driftwood, handle the small fry. A shoal of cartoon fish covers the middle. Up top you get the Golden Fish Trophy, the grinning Shark and the Angler himself, who happens to be a returning star: this game is a sequel to Betsoft's The Angler, and the old hero kept his billing. The Wild only shows up on reels 2, 3 and 4, substituting for everything except the specials. The Bonus barrel is the one that actually matters, and the Golden Shark never leaves the feature, where eating the board is its whole job. Give it ten minutes, and you'll be rating spins purely by barrel count. The rest of the school is scenery with a salary, if we're honest.

Symbol	Payouts
Tackle Box	No payout of its own. Substitutes for all symbols except the Bonus and the Reset. Appears on reels 2, 3 and 4.
Fish Bucket	x0.75 – x15 per symbol Six or more scattered Bonus symbols trigger the Hold & Win feature. Each Bonus carries either a cash value or a Mini, Minor or Major tag. Triggering symbols lock in place and award 3 respins; every new Bonus or Reset symbol locks in and resets the respin count to 3.
Golden Shark	No fixed value. When it appears, every cash value on the Bonus symbols is added together and collected. The collected symbols are then cleared from the grid, freeing space for new Bonus and Reset symbols to land.
Angler	5 — x50 4 — x10 3 — x5
Shark	5 — x25 4 — x5 3 — x2.5
Golden Fish Trophy	5 — x25 4 — x5 3 — x2.5
Goldfish	5 — x7.5 4 — x2.5 3 — x1.25
Pufferfish	5 — x7.5 4 — x2.5 3 — x1.25
Orange fish	5 — x2.5 4 — x1.25 3 — x0.5
Blue fish	5 — x2.5 4 — x1.25 3 — x0.5
Ace	5 — x2 4 — x1 3 — x0.5
King	5 — x1.5 4 — x0.75 3 — x0.5
Queen	5 — x1.5 4 — x0.75 3 — x0.5
Jack	5 — x1 4 — x0.5 3 — x0.25 2 — x0.1
Ten	5 — x1 4 — x0.5 3 — x0.25 2 — x0.1

Worth the Trip? Final Thoughts

Our verdict from the dock: this is a one-feature pokie, and a witty one. The Golden Shark keeps a familiar respin format moving instead of stalling, and the flat 83x ticket means you always know what a shot at the feature costs. Who's it for? Hold-and-win regulars who want a new wrinkle, Buy-button players who like a fixed price, and anyone who simply enjoys fishing pokies. The $0.25 to $100 range fits most boats too. Do pack patience for the stretches between bites though, since there's no Free Spins round here to break them up. And if your ideal trip has Free Spins in the tackle box, our Big Bass Bonanza review covers the genre's other famous boat. Same waters, different rod.

Pros

• Golden Shark resets keep the board alive
• Multiplier ladder climbs to x5 mid-feature
• A straightforward 83x Buy for the feature
• Half-underwater scenery with charm to spare

Cons

• No Free Spins anywhere on the boat
• High volatility keeps the quiet stretches long
• The 2,000x Grand trails flashier rivals

More Games by Betsoft2

Casinos to Play Games by Betsoft64

FAQ