Light & Wonder’s Reel 'Em In! A Bit Fishy! goes all-in on nostalgia, nodding to the early days of fishing-themed slot games. But this isn’t just a throwback. The game adds a few mechanical quirks of its own. There’s a horizontal reel of fish swimming beneath the main grid, prize-catching fishing rods, expanding wilds, and a couple of sharp surprises in the bonus game. It’s different from your usual online slots, and that’s exactly the point.
This is the fishing trip equivalent of showing up in shorts and flip-flops with a radio blaring. Reel ‘Em In! A Bit Fishy! doesn’t bother with modern graphics or scenic realism. Instead, it embraces a cartoonish, bright-coloured look with snappy audio that sounds like it’s had one too many energy drinks. It all feels intentionally low-fi, and that might divide opinion. But one thing’s certain: it’s aiming more for charm than polish.
The base game includes standard royal symbols alongside various fishing-themed gear. Here’s what the payouts look like for 3, 4, 5, or 6 matches:
Symbol | Payouts for 3, 4, 5, 6 of a kind |
9 | 0.40x, 0.60x, 1x, 1.50x |
10 | 0.40x, 0.60x, 1x, 1.50x |
J | 0.40x, 0.60x, 1x, 1.50x |
Q | 0.50x, 1x, 2x, 3x |
K | 0.50x, 1x, 2x, 3x |
Basketball Hoop | 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x |
Straw Hat | 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x |
Tackle Box | 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x |
Lifebuoy | 2x, 3x, 5x, 8x |
Hook | 3x, 5x, 8x, 10x |
Beneath the main 6x3 grid is a rotating horizontal reel with four positions. At the start of every spin, this lower reel shifts left, introducing a new fish or blank to the rightmost space. If a Fishing Rod symbol lands on reels 2–5, it drops a line down to the reel below. If a Cash Fish, Swordfish, or Electric Eel is directly beneath, it hooks the symbol and awards its associated prize.
Cash Fish can potentially award instant prizes ranging from 5x to 50x. Electric Eels trigger an expanding wild with a 4x multiplier. These can stack, so two Electric Eels means 4x multiplied by 4x. But if the rod comes down on a blank space? Nothing happens.
Free Spins are awarded by hooking a Swordfish or landing it alongside scatter symbols. Depending on the combination, between 8 and 15 free spins are awarded. The main difference during this round is that a shark might swim across the reels, turning up to five random symbols wild. However, Free Spins cannot be retriggered once they’re done.
You’re working with a 6x3 grid and 729 ways to win. Potential payouts happen when symbols land on adjacent reels from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel. The Fishing Rod feature is only active when the symbol lands on reels 2 through 5, and only when there’s something worth catching directly beneath. It’s not your typical online slot machine, and it leans into its reel-based twist for core gameplay tension.
If Reel ’Em In! A Bit Fishy! has you eyeing the bait bucket, here are a few other slots with aquatic themes or similar mechanics:
Reel ’Em In! A Bit Fishy! has no interest in being the prettiest game in the pond and that’s honestly fine. The mechanics are the focus here, and the fishing rod hook system paired with the horizontal reel is a clever twist. The visuals might not win everyone over, but the potential for expanding multipliers and interactive features gives it just enough to stay interesting. A second chance at triggering free spins or adding retriggers might’ve added longevity, but as it stands, this one knows exactly what it’s doing.