Jighead minnows dominate modern bass fishing, but they aren’t always the best way to get bit. BPT winner, longtime guide, and True Bass Swimbaits founder Ryan Salzman breaks down exactly when a boot-tail swimbait is the better tool—and the small rigging and retrieve details that can dramatically change your results.

Ryan explains why swimbaits draw bass you may never see on forward-facing sonar, how he chooses between a soft Keitech-style bait and a firmer hollow body, and how depth, speed, line size, and jighead weight all work together.

What you’ll learn:
• When to choose a boot-tail swimbait instead of a jighead minnow
• Why perfectly straight rigging can produce dramatically more bites
• How to choose 2.8, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5-inch swimbaits
• Jighead weights and line sizes for different depths and retrieve speeds
• The pendulum-fall retrieve and why bites often come on the drop
• Why Ryan keeps his rod around 9:30 for better swimbait action
• The hookset mistake that costs anglers fish—and what to do instead
• Ryan’s Alabama-rig tricks, including shaking the rig, mixing trailers, and choosing blades

Guest: Ryan Salzman — BPT winner, longtime Tennessee River guide, and founder of True Bass Swimbaits.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

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Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3

Fall is the season when almost anything can work, which is exactly what makes it so hard. Jeremy Lawyer breaks down the bait he keeps coming back to when bass scatter, conditions change, and he needs the kind of bite that can change his day.

Lawyer has built a major part of his tournament résumé in the fall, including six All-American appearances, a 2016 All American win, and major fall success at Lake of the Ozarks.

What you’ll learn:
• Why reaction baits help locate scattered “wolf packs” before slow fishing ever finds them
• How Lawyer uses buzzbaits, Ploppers, walking baits, and other topwaters as the water cools
• Why topwater can keep producing in bright sun and even into 58–60° water in November and December
• His counterintuitive cold-front rule: go shallower until water gets down around 50–53°
• How he adjusts buzzbait color, blade, speed, and sound between sunny and cloudy conditions
• Why he’ll sacrifice numbers for better bites—and when stubbornness with one bait can pay off

Guest: Jeremy Lawyer, FLW Tour and 2016 All-American champion; six-time All-American qualifier; more than $1 million in career earnings with extensive fall tournament success.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T⁠ 

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Apple: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566⁠Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3⁠

The Carolina rig gets bit when nothing else will, but most anglers aren’t getting everything they can out of it. Peter Thliveros built a career with the technique and breaks down the details that separate simply dragging a C-rig from actually understanding what the rig is telling you.

Peter also explains the Petey Rig, the finesse version he developed that breaks many of the rules of a traditional Carolina rig—and when he’d rather throw it.

What you’ll learn:
• Why Peter believes most anglers fish a Carolina rig too light and too fast
• How much weight he uses and why heavier sinkers improve bottom contact
• How he reads rock, shell, gravel, grass, and transitions through the rig
• How Peter drags, pauses, snaps, and changes retrieve speed based on the fish
• Leader length, line, hooks, and bait selection for a traditional Carolina rig
• Why switching to a Fluke became one of the biggest changes in his C-rig fishing
• How the Petey Rig differs from the standard Carolina rig and when it shines
• How Peter uses both rigs to find productive water and generate bites when fishing gets tough

Guest: Peter Thliveros, 8 time national tour winner, retired professional angler, longtime Carolina-rig specialist, and creator of the Petey Rig.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3

Fall bass fishing gets tough fast when everyone piles into the same obvious water. Matt Pangrac breaks down the repeatable system he uses to find overlooked bass, get bites on unfamiliar lakes, and avoid wasting the day chasing the crowd.

After spending roughly a decade with fall as his primary fishing season, Matt developed a simple way to shrink big reservoirs into high-percentage water—and some of his best starting spots are places most anglers drive right past.

What you’ll learn:
• Why Matt starts near the lower end of the lake instead of automatically running to the backs of creeks
• How fish-attractor buoys and your mapping can reveal productive fall water fast
• Why vertical and horizontal structure coming together creates high-percentage bass spots
• Matt’s heavy 3/8- to 1/2-ounce drop-shot setup and why he fishes it fast
• How to rig and fish the backwards “chicken rig” around docks and suspended bass
• How he uses heavy jighead minnows to trigger pelagic bass with forward-facing sonar
• Why bridges, marinas, riprap, and ramps form his BMR² system for getting bit on almost any reservoir
• How fishing pressure changes where fall bass set up—and why the obvious water can get burned quickly

Guest: Matt Pangrac — Bass Talk Live host, national-level tournament angler, Bassmaster Opens competitor, and longtime fall-fishing specialist.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3

Why do some bass bite, get hooked, and still never make it to the boat? Cody Stahl breaks down the overlooked tackle decisions that affect everything from getting a bait through the strike zone to keeping a big fish pinned.

Fresh off a record 22-pound Bassmaster Open winning margin without forward-facing sonar, Cody brings an unusual perspective: he’s a tournament pro, fishing-rod designer, and former soft-plastic mold designer. He explains the details most anglers never think about—and why the “best” rod, hook, or material depends entirely on how you’re fishing.

What you’ll learn:
• Why Cody used a 3/4-ounce lipless crankbait on a 7'5" extra-heavy, extra-fast rod in Florida grass
• Why 20-pound fluorocarbon gave him advantages over braid with treble hooks
• The difference between rod power, action, modulus, and spring-back speed
• Why higher-modulus graphite can be better for jerkbaits but worse for some crankbaits
• How he chooses rods for ChatterBaits, frogs, jighead minnows, wacky rigs, and bottom-contact baits
• When to use an EWG versus straight-shank hook—and when to change your hookset around cover
• Why round-bend and EWG treble hooks can serve completely different purposes
• What a lure designer notices about swimbait tails, plastic hardness, seams, and action

Guest: Cody Stahl — Bassmaster Open winner; record 22-pound winning margin; tournament pro; fishing-rod designer and former soft-plastic mold designer.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3

What are the five best baits to have tied on for fall bass fishing? Zack Birge gives the exact five he’d trust if dropped on an unfamiliar lake anywhere in the country—and explains how he changes locations, retrieves, and presentations as fall progresses.

Birge is coming off a monster 2026 season with three tournament wins and a Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year title. More importantly, he keeps his fishing remarkably simple and lets the fish tell him what they want instead of cycling through 15 or 20 rods.

What you’ll learn:
• The five fall baits Zack would rig for an unknown lake
• Why the first strong cold front matters more than the calendar
• Where to fish before bass push deeper into creeks
• How he approaches clear highland reservoirs versus shallow, dirtier lakes
• When to throw a buzzbait, walking bait, squarebill, bladed jig, or finesse jig
• Why fall bass may crush one bait today and ignore it tomorrow
• How bite location inside a creek tells you which areas to run next
• When jighead minnows and Alabama rigs become bigger players as water cools

Guest: Zack Birge — 2026 Bass Pro Tour Angler of the Year; three-time tournament winner in 2026; elite shallow-water and power-fishing specialist.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2QGQyLEtWoErDF6vD7igy3

Most anglers can have a great day. The harder skill is avoiding the days when nothing works. Ryan Lachniet breaks down the decision-making system he uses to catch bass consistently—how he chooses dependable water, avoids high-risk patterns, adjusts when fish won’t commit, and uses LiveScope to make better decisions instead of simply chasing dots.

Ryan’s approach is surprisingly conservative for a young pro: find the best version of the safe option, secure dependable bites, then take calculated shots at bigger fish. He also explains why he’d often rather have LiveScope throughout practice than during the tournament itself.

What you’ll learn:

Guest: Ryan Lachniet — MLF Pro Circuit rookie with five straight top-25 finishes at the time of recording; second in Angler of the Year points.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566

Big bass often see a jig without ever committing to it. Bradley Hallman breaks down the Little Brown Jig system he refined over decades—the exact bait, tackle, casting targets, and patient retrieve that catch fish other anglers leave behind.

This is more than simply downsizing a jig. Hallman explains how head design, weight, skirt density, line size, casting accuracy, and the final 30–60-second pause work together as one complete system.

What you’ll learn:

Guest: Bradley Hallman... Two-time tour winner; longtime national tour pro; flippin' and jig specialist.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566

Why can you be surrounded by bass and still struggle to get a bite? Cal Lane explains how rigid expectations about season, location, current, water level, and fishing pressure can keep anglers committed to a pattern that no longer exists.

Recorded before his breakthrough Pro Circuit win at Lake Champlain, this conversation reveals the decision-making system behind Cal’s run of top finishes. Through real tournament examples, he explains how he determines whether to stay shallow, move offshore, trust LiveScope, fish current, or abandon the bite he expected.

What you’ll learn:

Guest: Cal Lane — Pro Circuit winner and consistent top 10 finisher known for adapting between shallow power fishing and offshore techniques.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566

Which new LiveScope transducer should you buy—and could choosing the wrong one cost you bass? Alton Jones Jr. shares three days of on-water testing with the Garmin LVS42HD and LVS44, including where each transducer shines, what changes from the LVS34, and which model makes the most sense for most bass anglers.

You’ll also learn how Alton uses Perspective Mode, screen size, gain and filtering, multiple-transducer setups, and the Garmin Spy Pole to see more fish and make more efficient casts. Then he breaks down the Free Rig system he uses when pressured bass ignore minnows, drop shots, jigs, and other common presentations.

What you’ll learn:

Guest: Alton Jones Jr. — Bass Pro Tour champion with more than $1.5 million in career earnings; one of the sport’s most accomplished forward-facing sonar anglers.

Watch the full video podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJHIrTVplvfzK7I8FEog0BXmrt83Yc3T 

Save 10% on MillerTech lithium batteries and all other products: https://tinyurl.com/MillerTech10off 

Follow Catch More Bass—new episodes every Monday at 2 PM CT.

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/catch-more-bass/id1842586566