Slots Like Epic Fish Winter Catch: The Golden Fish That Grows With Every Spin
Epic Fish Winter Catch is Quickspin’s festive reworking of its own Epic Fish mechanic, a 5 reel, 3 row slot with 10 fixed paylines and a headline RTP of 96% (a handful of independent trackers list the same top configuration a touch higher, at 96.07%, alongside three reduced builds running at 94%, 92% and 87%). Every Wild that lands turns into a fisherman and hauls in every visible Fish symbol, adding its cash value straight onto your spin, and three separate Free Spins tiers reward however many Bonus symbols show up on the reels. Stakes typically run from around 10p up to £100 a spin, in line with Quickspin’s usual range across its catalogue, the game carries a high volatility rating, and the developer’s own published figure for the maximum win is 5,000x your stake, reached through the top Golden Pollock bonus tier. Anyone hunting for slots like Epic Fish Winter Catch after a session in Gullfjord will find a short list further down this page.
Where to Play
18+ only. T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.
How the Game Works
Reviewed by Brian TaylorPublished: July 2026
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The setting is Gullfjord, a fictional Norwegian fjord village Quickspin has built specifically for this release, all snowbound rooftops and icy mountains above the waterline. Below the surface the game switches to a brighter, cartoonish underwater scene stacked with fish and treasure symbols, and the whole thing is fronted by a grizzled sea dog of a fisherman chasing a fabled catch known as the Golden Pollock. It reads as a proper seasonal reskin rather than a token Christmas hat slapped on an old game, with its own music, its own animation, and a distinctly festive colour palette running through every screen.
In practice it plays like most of Quickspin’s Epic Fish family: a fairly ordinary looking 5×3 grid that comes alive whenever the Wild lands, because that symbol is doing almost all the heavy lifting here. Base game spins can feel quiet between Wild appearances, which is typical for a high volatility release, but the Fish Collection mechanic means even an unassuming looking spin can turn into a decent win once every fish on screen gets totted up by a single well timed Wild.
This is a slot for players who like a clear, easily explained mechanic rather than a wall of overlapping features, and who don’t mind some variance in exchange for a shot at the top bonus tier. If you’d rather have a steady drip of small wins than sit out dry spells waiting for the Wild to show up, it’s worth weighing up the volatility notes below before committing a session to it.
Symbols and Paytable
The low end of the paytable is made up of playing card royals, J through A, redressed in ice and candy cane borders to match the winter theme. Above them sit the higher paying symbols: a message in a bottle, a treasure chest, a starfish and a couple of named fish, each worth progressively more for a full line. The Wild, styled as the fisherman character himself, tops the regular paytable and substitutes for every symbol except the Bonus scatter, but its real value comes from the Fish Collection feature rather than its own paytable line.
Bonus Features Explained
Fish Collection
This is the mechanic the whole game is built around. Whenever a Wild symbol lands anywhere on the grid, it acts as a fisherman and catches every Fish symbol visible on the reels at that moment, adding each one’s cash value onto the total win for that spin. Land more than one Wild on the same spin and each one collects independently, so a busy screen of fish symbols paired with a couple of Wilds can add up quickly even outside the bonus round.
Free Spins and the Three Bonus Tiers
Landing three or more Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels triggers a Free Spins round, and the number of scatters you land decides which of three tiers you get. Three scatters awards Winter Spins, the base tier, with 12 free spins as a starting point and extra spins earned every time you collect four Wilds on the meter. Four scatters upgrades that to Tight Lines, which layers in Fortified Wilds that stay sticky for the rest of the round on top of the same extra-spin mechanic. Five scatters is the top tier, Golden Pollock, which keeps the sticky wilds, hands out extra spins faster, and is the only mode where the exclusive Golden Fish symbol can appear.
The Golden Fish
The Golden Fish only shows up during the Golden Pollock free spins tier, and its value climbs every time it lands on the reels rather than resetting each spin. It only pays out when a Wild’s Fish Collection catches it, so a long, lucky Golden Pollock round where the fish keeps reappearing before finally getting caught is where the game’s headline 5,000x win comes from.
Feature Buy
Where operators offer it, Quickspin’s Feature Buy option lets you pay straight into one of the three bonus tiers rather than landing it naturally: 40x your stake for Winter Spins, 95x for Tight Lines, or 250x for a guaranteed Golden Pollock round. UK Gambling Commission rules have barred bonus buy features for UK-facing operators since 2020, so this option won’t appear if you’re playing from the UK.
Extra Bet
Some builds also offer an Extra Bet option that doubles your base stake in exchange for a better chance of triggering the Bonus symbols. One tracker we checked put the increase at roughly 189%, though we couldn’t confirm that figure against Quickspin’s own materials, so treat it as a rough steer rather than a guaranteed multiplier on your trigger odds.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The Fish Collection mechanic is simple to follow but genuinely changes how a spin plays out, rewarding a busy screen of fish symbols rather than hiding the value in a single paytable line
- Three separate Free Spins tiers give you a real reason to chase five scatters instead of settling for the first trigger that lands
- The Golden Fish’s growing value gives the top bonus tier a proper sense of escalation, rather than a flat multiplier that never changes
- Four published RTP configurations are openly listed by Quickspin, so the information is there if your casino discloses which build it runs
- The Gullfjord setting and animation feel like a genuine reskin rather than a reused asset pack with a snowflake filter over it
Cons
- At 5,000x, the maximum win sits below several other high volatility Quickspin titles, so the ceiling is more modest than the volatility rating might suggest
- With four RTP builds in circulation (96%, 94%, 92% and 87%), you’re reliant on checking the in-game info screen to know which one you’re actually playing
- UK players can’t use the Feature Buy option, so the three bonus tiers can only be reached by landing scatters naturally
- The base game outside of a Wild appearance is fairly restrained, which can feel slow across a longer high volatility session
- Being a reskin of Epic Fish Adventure, the underlying mechanic won’t feel new if you’ve already played other games in the Epic Fish series
Game Screenshot
Demo Play
Epic Fish Winter Catch is widely available in free demo mode at UK-facing casinos that carry Quickspin’s catalogue, running on play money so you can see how often the Wild appears and how the three bonus tiers differ before staking anything for real. It’s a sensible way to judge the high volatility rating for yourself, since a few minutes on demo will show you how long the quiet stretches between Wilds can run.
Expert Take
Epic Fish Winter Catch doesn’t try to hide what it is: a well dressed seasonal reskin of a mechanic Quickspin has already used more than once across its Epic Fish series. That’s not necessarily a criticism, because the Fish Collection idea is a genuinely tidy piece of design, easy to understand within a spin or two and satisfying to watch play out when the screen fills with fish and a Wild sweeps them all up. Where it falls short of the very best high volatility Quickspin titles is the ceiling; 5,000x is a reasonable prize but not a headline-grabbing one, so go in expecting a well built, mid-tier release rather than a jackpot hunter’s pick.
Similar Slots to Try
If the frosty fishing theme is what drew you in, these carry a similar setting and tone, even where the mechanics underneath work differently.
Another festive fishing slot, trading Fish Collection for a pots-of-gold hold and win round.
Swaps the fixed paylines for a Megaways grid, if you’d rather your fishing slot came with a shifting reel count.
A different studio’s take on the deep sea fishing theme, without the winter dressing.
A calmer, lower stakes fishing slot for anyone who wants the theme without Epic Fish Winter Catch’s high volatility swings.
About the Developer
Epic Fish Winter Catch was developed by Quickspin, a Swedish studio founded in Stockholm in 2011 by Mats Westerlund, Joachim Timmermans and Daniel Lindberg. Playtech bought the company in 2016, in a deal reported at around $56 million, and Quickspin has continued releasing games under its own name ever since, building a catalogue that now runs to well over 130 titles. The studio holds licences from the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission, and its house style leans toward polished, character-led games built around one clear mechanical idea rather than a long list of bolted-on extras, a description Epic Fish Winter Catch fits comfortably.
Other Quickspin games worth trying after Epic Fish Winter Catch are Sticky Bandits, Sakura Fortune 2 and Santa Hopper.
A Wild West Quickspin slot with sticky and expanding wilds, calmer than Epic Fish Winter Catch but built on the same idea of one wild symbol carrying most of the game.
The sequel to Quickspin’s Japanese themed original, with its own free spins round and a lower volatility feel if Epic Fish Winter Catch’s swings aren’t for you.
Another of Quickspin’s winter releases, if the seasonal setting is what you’re after rather than the fishing theme specifically.
Epic Fish Winter Catch Key Stats
Epic Fish Winter Catch slot information last reviewed: July 2026
| Epic Fish Winter Catch Slot Info | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Epic Fish Winter Catch |
| Provider: | Quickspin |
| Developer Rank: | 24 out of 130+ Quickspin games |
| RTP: | 96% (reduced configs also run at 94%, 92% and 87%; some trackers list the top build at 96.07%) |
| RTP Category: | Medium-High |
| RTP Rank: | In line with the UK online average |
| Feature Description: | Wild Symbol (Fish Collection), Bonus/Scatter Symbol, three-tier Free Spins Feature, Sticky Wilds (Tight Lines and Golden Pollock tiers), Golden Fish multiplier symbol, Feature Buy (not available to UK players), Extra Bet option. |
| Feature Categories: | Free Spins, Wild Collection, Sticky Wilds |
| Reels: | 5 |
| Rows: | 3 |
| Paylines: | 10 |
| Volatility: | High |
| Volatility Rank: | High |
| Min Bet: | £0.10 |
| Max Bet: | £100 |
| Max Win: | 5,000x stake (Quickspin’s own figure; a couple of independent trackers list 5,190x instead, an unresolved discrepancy) |
| Release Date: | 25 November 2025 |
| Slotslike Rank: | 588 out of 4,200+ games (View Top 100) |
Slots with the Same Features
Epic Fish Winter Catch falls into the following bonus categories: Free Spins, Wild Collection and Sticky Wilds.
Another fish-themed Free Spins slot, worth a look if you want to stay underwater while trying a different bonus structure.
Quickspin’s own high volatility Free Spins release, with expanding wild pigs instead of a fisherman collecting fish.
Built around its own take on a wild-collecting mechanic, for anyone who liked how Epic Fish Winter Catch’s Wilds do the heavy lifting.
A sticky wild driven bonus round in a completely different theme, useful if the mechanic is what you’re chasing rather than the setting.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Fish Collection feature work in Epic Fish Winter Catch?
Every Wild symbol that lands acts as a fisherman and catches all the Fish symbols visible on the reels at that moment, adding their cash values to your total win for the spin. Multiple Wilds on the same spin each collect independently.
What is the RTP of Epic Fish Winter Catch?
Quickspin’s own game page lists a headline RTP of 96%, with reduced configurations at 94%, 92% and 87% also in circulation. A small number of independent trackers list the top build fractionally higher at 96.07%, so it’s worth checking your casino’s in-game info screen for the exact figure you’re playing.
What is the maximum win on Epic Fish Winter Catch?
Quickspin’s own materials list 5,000x your stake as the maximum win, reached during the top Golden Pollock free spins tier when a Wild catches a fully grown Golden Fish symbol. A couple of independent trackers list 5,190x instead, which we haven’t been able to confirm against the developer’s own figures.
Is Epic Fish Winter Catch high volatility?
Yes. Quickspin rates it high volatility, and the base game reflects that, with quieter stretches between Wild appearances and most of the bigger wins concentrated in the Free Spins tiers.
What are the best slots like Epic Fish Winter Catch?
For the same frosty fishing theme, Fishin’ Christmas: Pots of Gold is the closest seasonal match, with Big Catch Bass Fishing Megaways, Bob Marlin Goes Deep and Bass Brothers widening out to fishing slots without the winter dressing.
Can I play Epic Fish Winter Catch for free?
Yes, a free demo version is widely available at UK-facing casinos that carry Quickspin’s games, running on play money so you can try the Fish Collection mechanic and all three bonus tiers before staking real money.
Who makes Epic Fish Winter Catch?
Quickspin, a Swedish studio founded in 2011 and owned by Playtech since 2016. Epic Fish Winter Catch was released on 25 November 2025 as a seasonal entry in the studio’s wider Epic Fish series.
Our Verdict on Epic Fish Winter Catch
Epic Fish Winter Catch is a confident, well produced seasonal release that leans on a mechanic Quickspin already knows works, and there’s nothing wrong with that when the mechanic in question is as clean as Fish Collection. It won’t suit anyone chasing a five or six figure multiplier, since 5,000x is respectable rather than spectacular for a high volatility Quickspin game, but the three-tier Free Spins structure and the growing Golden Fish give the bonus round a genuine sense of build. Worth a spin over the winter months if the theme appeals, and worth checking which of the four RTP builds your casino is running before you settle in for a longer session.
SlotsLike rating: 7/10