Mini swimbaits, a flood of new minnow-profile hard baits, mounting pressure to regulate forward-facing sonar, and a budget-build backlash against $1,000 bass combos. Those were the four headline calls from bass livestream host Debo and guest Adam "Fish Hook" Terry in a Saturday Night Live predictions session this week, and each one tracks with shifts already visible on tournament-tour decks in early 2026.
Debo set the tone with a single-line call.
"I think that the swimbait thing is going to keep going," he said. "There's so many swimbait heads and people wanting to sling the big swimbaits."
But he argues the centre of gravity has shifted to mini- and micro-profile swimbaits — the downsized cousins of the 10-inch glide baits that defined the COVID-era finesse-to-power swing.
"I remember, geez, probably the heart of COVID, right? Like everybody wanted big, big swimbaits, right? Like that was the trend," Debo said. "Like if you're not throwing a giant swimbait, then you're not a man kind of thing, right? And then now even all the garage-built guys are all running minis, right? And everybody and their brother wants a mini swimbait."
"It's crazy to me, but yeah, I mean, yeah, mini swimbaits, I think, are going to be the rage," he added.
Terry, who spends a portion of his year inside a manufacturer, zeroed in on minnows as the other shape category set to explode.
"I think that's still going to see a lot of new shapes and a lot of, from large manufacturers to small poor guys, pumping a lot into minnows," Terry said.
"I think that'll continue to grow until something happens, until all the Randy Blaukat fanboys and everybody finally get it outlawed and it's criminal to have one on your boat," Debo said.
He was careful to separate anti-technology sentiment from the talent the best FFS pros bring to the tournament world.
"I'm hoping that some of the traditional techniques kind of come back into style, right? Forcing these guys to not have to use forward-facing," Debo said.
Terry ended the segment with the trend he's most keen to watch — the one he thinks will surprise even people inside the industry.
"I want to see more of the trend of guys going, how budget can I get to catch a giant, right?" Terry said. "Rather than having to spend $1,000 on a combo, what about a $50 combo, $200 swimbait?"
Both hosts pointed to affordable platforms like BFS-leaning SK rods, specialty SK swimbait blanks, and old-reliable models like the Fenwick Eagle as proof that the bank-and-boat bass-fishing population is starting to push back against the premium-price arms race of the last tournament cycle.
For 2026: smaller swimbaits, reborn minnow profiles, FFS under political pressure, and a quiet boom in sub-$500 tournament kits. Four calls from one livestream — all of them worth tracking over the summer.
