Last updated: May 2026. Paytable cross-referenced against Evoplay's official symbol art and the in-game paytable across the four featured AU casinos.
Every symbol on a slot has a purpose — a payout band, a feature trigger, or a structural role like substitution. On The Greatest Catch, the paytable is unusually clean: ten unique paying symbols plus a wild and a scatter, organised into three tiers (low-pay card ornaments, mid-pay nautical items, high-pay fish and captain). This article ranks every symbol by payout and explains what each one does for the round. For the broader math context behind the paytable, see our specs page.
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Symbol tiers at a glance
The paytable is organised in three payout bands plus two functional symbols.
| Tier | Symbols | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Captain, large fish stacks, trawler | Largest paytable payouts |
| Mid | Anchor, lighthouse, life-ring, compass | Frequent moderate payouts |
| Low | 10, J, Q, K, A card ornaments | Filler payouts |
| Wild | Boat wheel / nautical wild | Substitutes for all paytable symbols |
| Scatter | Whale shark | Triggers free spins (10/15/20 for 3/4/5) |
The premium symbols
The premium symbols deliver the largest base-game payouts and the explosive free-spin outcomes.
The captain is the top symbol on the paytable. He's the bearded fisherman in yellow waterproofs leaning on the trawler's rail. Five-of-a-kind on a single payline produces the largest individual paytable line win in the game. When the captain stacks across multiple reels — especially in the free-spin round — combined line wins compound dramatically. This is the symbol the entire game is engineered around.
The trawler / fishing boat is the second-highest premium. It pays meaningfully on three-, four- and five-of-a-kind, with five-on-a-line representing a strong individual line payout in the base game.
Fish stacks (typically the larger fish — tuna, swordfish, or similar high-value species depending on Evoplay's artwork) are the third premium tier. Frequent enough to provide regular base-game wins, large enough to be felt in the balance when they hit.
Premium symbol combinations are the source of nearly all base-game wins above 20× the stake. Watch for the captain in particular — when he lands on reels 1, 2, and 3 simultaneously, the round is about to pay, and stacked captain reels during the free-spin round are where the genuinely big outcomes appear.
The mid-tier symbols
The mid symbols are the workhorses of the paytable — frequent enough to land regularly, large enough to feel meaningful but not session-defining.
The anchor is a regular base-game win contributor. Five-of-a-kind delivers a noticeable payout but isn't in the same band as the premiums.
The lighthouse is similar in payout band to the anchor. Visually striking when it lands; mathematically a workhorse.
Life-ring, compass, and other nautical items round out the mid tier. The exact symbol roster can vary slightly between Evoplay's deployment versions but the payout band is consistent.
In a typical 100-spin session, mid-tier symbols generate most of the visible-but-small wins that maintain session balance through the dry stretches between free-spin triggers.
The low-tier symbols (card ornaments)
The low pays are the standard card-rank ornaments — 10, J, Q, K, A — rendered in nautical style (often with rope detailing or weathered wood textures to match the theme rather than plain casino playing-card art).
Low pays:
- Are the most frequent symbols on the reels.
- Pay the smallest individual line wins.
- Are statistically what most of your "winning" spins are.
- Typically pay less than your bet on a per-spin basis (a "win" that's actually a partial loss).
The presence of so many card-rank symbols on the paytable is part of the volatility profile — they let the game show frequent small "wins" without significantly affecting the long-run math.
The wild symbol
The wild (typically rendered as a nautical wheel or compass in The Greatest Catch's artwork) is the substitution symbol.
Wild rules:
- Substitutes for all paytable symbols to complete winning combinations.
- Does NOT substitute for the whale-shark scatter — wilds never trigger the bonus.
- Active in both base game and free spins.
- Pays as itself if enough wilds land on the same payline (typically pays in the premium band).
When wilds stack on multiple reels during the free-spin round, they multiply the chance of completing high-value combinations across many paylines simultaneously — this is the mechanism behind the largest free-spin payouts and the 10,000× max-win path.
The scatter — whale shark
The whale shark is the scatter and the bonus trigger.
Scatter rules:
- Scatter pays: lands anywhere on the reels (not bound to paylines).
- Triggers free spins: 3 scatters → 10 spins, 4 → 15, 5 → 20.
- Retriggers: scatters landing during the free-spin round add additional spins to the remaining counter.
- Cannot be substituted by wilds.
The whale shark is functionally the most important symbol in the game — most of the long-run RTP runs through this single symbol's behaviour.
Symbol distribution and frequency
The reels are weighted so that:
- Low-pay card ornaments are the most frequent (the noise that fills most spins).
- Mid-tier nautical items appear with moderate frequency (the workhorse wins).
- Premium symbols (captain, trawler, fish stacks) are less frequent and concentrated more on certain reels than others. The captain in particular is engineered to appear more often on the higher-payout reels.
- Wilds are sparse — usually one per reel maximum, often missing entirely from a given spin.
- Scatters are the rarest paying symbol on the reels. Three landing simultaneously is statistically uncommon, four notably rarer, five exceedingly rare.
This distribution is what produces the medium-high volatility profile — frequent small low-pay wins mixed with occasional premium-symbol bursts and rare scatter triggers that drive most of the RTP.
Paytable in approximate payout order (largest to smallest)
| Position | Symbol | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Captain | Top premium, source of biggest combinations |
| 2 | Trawler / fishing boat | Strong premium |
| 3 | Large fish stack (tuna / swordfish) | Premium |
| 4 | Wild (boat wheel) | Substitution + premium pay |
| 5 | Anchor | Mid |
| 6 | Lighthouse | Mid |
| 7 | Life-ring | Mid |
| 8 | Compass | Mid |
| 9 | A (card ornament) | Low |
| 10 | K | Low |
| 11 | Q | Low |
| 12 | J | Low |
| 13 | 10 | Low |
| Special | Whale shark scatter | Bonus trigger only |
Exact paytable multiples are visible in the in-game info panel — open the game, click the (i) icon, scroll to the paytable view for the AUD multipliers at your current bet.
Quick FAQ
Which symbol pays the most? The captain — top of the paytable and the source of the largest individual line wins.
What does the wild do? Substitutes for all paytable symbols (not the whale-shark scatter) to complete winning combinations.
What does the whale shark do? Triggers the free-spin round. Three, four, or five whale sharks anywhere on the reels deliver 10, 15, or 20 free spins respectively.
Can the wild trigger the bonus? No — wilds never trigger bonus rounds. Only scatters do.
Do scatters pay outside of the bonus trigger? Some Evoplay deployments give a small scatter pay alongside the bonus trigger; check the in-game paytable to confirm your casino's deployment.
Does symbol distribution change in the free-spin round? Some Evoplay free-spin rounds re-weight reels for the bonus (often increasing premium-symbol frequency). The exact in-round distribution is part of Evoplay's certified math model.
Are card-rank symbols a waste? They're the noise that produces frequent small wins — necessary for the slot's pace, even if individual card-rank wins don't move the balance much.
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About this paytable breakdown
Symbol roster cross-referenced against Evoplay's official artwork and the in-game paytable at all four featured AU casinos during April-May 2026. Payout-order ranking reflects the standard Evoplay deployment of The Greatest Catch; exact multiples are visible in the in-game (i) panel.
Gambling responsibly. Knowing the paytable doesn't change the math. Set deposit and loss limits before depositing. AU support: gamblinghelponline.org.au · BetStop · 18+ only.
Further Reading
Related reading in this guide:
- The Greatest Catch Australia: The Full Pokie Review
- Best Australia Casinos to Play The Greatest Catch (Vetted 2026)
- The Greatest Catch Bonus Buy Edition — AU Notes
- The Greatest Catch vs Mega Greatest Catch Compared
- The Greatest Catch Australia Banking: PayID, POLi, Crypto
- The Greatest Catch Mobile in Australia: iOS, Android, Browser