Not necessarily. Mine is set to difficult and it starts out in the up position at the start of a game, staying down to allow a ball to be locked.

I got 44 million by avoiding the jet skis in video mode but I think I hit 1 , and you get 42 million if you hit every jet ski and water skier as they come .
I think I've got 45 million before but I'm not 100% certain , I should know because I've had this game for over 20 years , but can anyone confirm .

I think mine is missing

Do you have the part number? Is there any additional parts i need to purchase to hold it ?

Nevermind, gate is there and drop target works too

Now to the sound issue

Yes there is a one way gate inside the casters club. The ball normally never bounces out. Sometimes the gate get stuck in the up position so take a look.

Long shot request here... Does anyone have the cabinet decal for just the coin door panel for sale or know where I can find one? I don't need the cab sides or back box decals.

Ministry has it, I ordered one about a month ago.

Thank you for the info.

A couple of solutions for a slow roller getting stuck on the upper right loop wire actuator.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fish-tales-ball-stuck-at-top-of-right-loop

Must-have mods for someone entering the club? Picking up a Fish Tales with Color DMD next week!

Planning on changing pop bumper caps to blue and rollovers to green, but curious what else are top on people's lists.

Post #9 is the only solution you need, fuq'n brilliant!!

I really like a color DMD; Tilt Graphics art blades; monster fish with LED eyes (if they are still avail); and I added a Van de Kamp’s fish truck (gotta have a distributor on hand for all the fish you will catch) and beer cooler, for obvious reasons. That’s just what I like tho! Have fun!

00B86794-B68D-48DB-BE82-2283F7CAE5DE (resized).png65958CBF-C433-42FE-BEA7-FF62F056EBA6 (resized).jpeg

265D8610-90BA-4E76-B85C-A8678970B166 (resized).png

Fish tank trees??

My FT has started to only release 2 balls during multiball. Keeps the third ball in the reel until both balls in play are lost, then does a ball search and ejects the last ball. Ran a reel opto test but not sure exactly how it is supposed to read with the open/closed. Says no errors during the test. Does this sound like an opto problem?

Is that a repro playfield? Looks so shiny and new! Micro?

in test, the optos will each go on and off as the reel turns. If they do, its not the optos, if one or the other is always on or off, thats your issue.
If you dont feel you're getting understandable results in reel test, you can go into switch test and slowly turn the reel by hand and watch the on-screen matrix for activity.

Aquarium trees are the best for this they look good and you can do it for just a couple of bucks.

Thanks! It’s a resurfaced and clear coated original pf. Whoever did it did an amazing job!

ABF1B993-E9E8-44B9-A8D2-0DF2C3BA3F8F (resized).png

I’m about to put one of those in mine too - does it play fast??

It’s definitely smooth, and really plays fast after a wax and adding new balls. But the real factor I feel is pitch. I keep mine on the slightly steep side, because I like how short and challenging most games are. I usually have 3-4 super short games and then one really long one with multiple multi balls and monster fish. I usually choke when jackpot is lit tho. I locked 2 balls for double jackpot last week and naturally couldn’t capitalize.

Just in at PPS, been waiting years....

Fishtales Rod/Reel Cover
http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-03-8646&Store_Code=PP

Fishing Reel Decal Set
http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PPS-31-1682-REEL&Store_Code=PP

Wow, I didn’t know there was supposed to be a one way gate in the Casters Cub. Mine is definitely missing, which explains the bounce-outs.

Does anyone know what the part number is or where I can find one?

Thanks in advance!

Marco has a bunch of W gates for Williams. Maybe someone has a shop out photo with more detail. The gate has a bend at the end that only lets it swing one way.

IMG_0869 (resized).jpg

Thanks for the close-up picture! I looked at Marco’s site and on Plantery Pinballs site but haven’t been able to find the perfect match. Do the wire ends on the gate go from inside or outside of the support holes?

Thanks Neal_W and Roamin! The pictures are very helpful. I think I will order a few gates from Marco that are close and adjust the ends to work in the caster’s club.

If you need a part that is not around, let me know and we have the WMS prints for most anything and can get a quote on some wireforms.

Team PPS

Wireform ramps for Fish Tales that are all unobtainium would be lovely! Especially the 2 crossover boat ramps, they take a beating and the welds break!

Wire Ramps are challenging as the original jigs no longer exist (usually) so they have to be re-created which takes time and iteration. Then for all that effort there needs to be probably at least 500 made ... which is why it's rare to have new wire ramps made other than for a remake, etc ... creating the jig/tool can be $1500-2000 and then per ramp, etc ... so the economics unfortunately make it very difficult to get a good stream of wire ramps going ...

we've sent the part off for quote ... we've not quoted a wireform for awhile, so if reasonable we can give it a shot ...

I had to really look to see if my FT had the gate intact. I didn’t know there was a gate under there.

0295B419-048D-4197-B92D-0E72C7E948E6 (resized).png

Thanks for the great service PPS. I looked in your Williams online parts book for the part #, but couldn’t find it. Looking forward to finding out if this can be made. If not, I will see if you have the WMS print and make it myself.

For the first few weeks of owning FT I thought something was broken when i rejected from the C.Club I don't think mine has a decal though. Looks interesting

Correct, good memory! My wife sometimes makes me custom target decals. I replaced the stock drop target with a translucent one, and added a blue led behind it. Turned out nice.

1D088D49-CD8A-418E-B08B-684140BBA872 (resized).jpeg

One of the first pins we bought was a ratty Fish Tales. Finally committed to doing something with it.

Out - rottendog dmd and power driver boards and pretty decent playfield
In - correct Williams boards and a NOS playfield

13DEFCD7-89D6-4FE8-BDC7-56B82ECD6464 (resized).jpeg215E7D66-85A8-4CC9-8B29-292DF52DD4B4 (resized).jpeg497081B0-E751-45AD-95A4-A40881A842E2 (resized).jpeg80A9757F-8D05-4319-8DDB-5E72E37982C7 (resized).jpegE9AAEA47-108A-4DF7-9841-2CB9206445B5 (resized).jpeg08D8EB60-F744-4CC2-BEF7-85E37378E65E (resized).jpeg211592BC-2681-4493-943C-0F256216D4A6 (resized).jpeg3021C144-A0CA-4198-AAFA-FBBD213DEA46 (resized).jpegD3508D7D-A259-4A87-9875-37BF420196D8 (resized).jpeg

Does anyone have a picture of what this area of posts should look like? This feels kind of janky and I assume it might not be correct…

The thin plastic has to bend down to screw into the front bumper post which doesn't feel right.

09001862-F54C-4DFB-9F2B-1C22EBC96D20 (resized).jpeg2E53F2C0-B4E2-407D-A26F-C1AF39E32C38 (resized).jpeg

Its right. You're missing the thick flat washer on top of that bumper post to make the plastic lay flat.
You can pile 2 or 3 standard flat washers there to substitute. Games that dont have that washer will go thru alot more of those thin plastics!

IMG_0872 (resized).jpg

Awesome - thanks that makes a lot of sense now why it was bending down. I'll try to check out my local HW store for something like that..

I have a 3d fishing rod mod in progress for the left plastic area. It has a real cork Handel , real thread used to hold the eyelets, and painted finish with slight weathering. It’s in multiple pieces so shipping is easy. Also a new caster club cabin with front porch and interior lighting.

Should have pictures posted soon.

Sounds awesome! I have wanted to do that with a real fly rod but I don't have the creative juices

Having an issue that I couldn’t find on the forums.

For some reason my gate solenoid is locking on. I learned it from one of my regulars after he said the game was turning off mid-play

Somehow it’s still working just fine as I played it, but it is locking on randomly and I’m not sure why. I assume the coil was causing resets due to locking in. But can’t be sure.

The gate opens when launching the ball. Shooter lane switch OK?

The solenoid was clicking on and off rapidly when lifting the played. Pretty sure it’s just bad at this point. Probably from years of abuse on route. I cut it off and it seems like it burned up and had a minor internal short that it “fixed” itself that caused the bizarre behavior

My game does have a weird issue, the shooter lane switch gets hit by the auto plunger, and it sometimes confuses the game. At times when you lose the ball while the auto cast is on, the plunger fires IMMEDIATELY, activating the shooter lane switch and the game just immediately ends the ball, without ever kicking one out.

Not sure why the auto plunger is firing two and three times the second the ball drains, which I believe causes most these issues.

I'm doing a full PF swap and clean/tumble - I've got the reel gearbox here separated, Is there anything you need to to service the internals? I don't see any screws to separate the parts so assume it's best to leave it as is... There was some oil between the gearbox and the mounting plate so I'm not sure where that migrated from...