If you’ve had difficulty catching bass from our area lakes, the next couple of months might just be for you. From fall through early winter, bass begin to both congregate and experience feeding binges.

Submergent weedgrowth begins to die off during fall. As this habitat diminishes, bass will relocate to other zones. This can be deeper water such as deep wood as well as drop offs where baitfish are present.

Blade baits -- such as the Silver Buddy, Reef Runner Cicada, Heddon Sonar -- excel in catching both smallmouth and largemouth bass from the colder water of the late season. Which you catch is largely a matter of the lake’s population dynamics and the type of cover you are fishing. Zero in around deep wood and it will likely be green bass. Work rocky ledges and odds are the bass will be of the bronze variety.

Whatever type of water you are fishing, it’s important to understand that blade baits are not a great cover-the-water bait, at least not in this application. Here, you are putting the bait in front of the nose of lethargic (yet catchable) fish. You’re hoping the repetitive jigging of the bait will provoke a reaction bite. Hence, it’s desirable to fish areas where you know or suspect bass are present. This includes marking baitfish and/or gamefish on sonar as well as working high percentage structure and cover.

There’s an art to “pumping blades,” as experienced enthusiasts call it. In the colder water of all and early winter, it’s often best to fish it vertically, i.e. nearly straight under the boat. The jigging motion should be sharp but short, with lengthy pauses between them. I keep the upward jigging stroke in the six-inch to one-foot range.

Again, it should be sharp, a snap, not a lift. Allow the lure to drop on a semi-tight line. Sometimes bass will hit the lure on the fall, and you’ll feel it. More often they will hit it lure during the pause. Think of things in terms of a cold water hard jerkbait. The twitch gets their attention; the pause the opportunity to strike it. And at times the fish will “just be there” when you go to give the lure the upward snap.

I tend to allow the lure to touch bottom after every five or so jigging cycles. This confirms that the lure is still near bottom, but minimizes excessive bottom contact.

In depths from 15 to 30 feet of water, which covers most situations, I prefer ½ ounce blades of the Silver Buddy style. I assemble my own, using either nickel or brass blades, then powder coat painting them to suit my needs. My preference is to use clip in hooks (treble hooks with one open tine) rather than split rings and conventional trebles. I endure less fouling, where the hook grabs the line while jigging it, with the clip in hooks.

Regarding color, in clear water lakes nickel tends to edge out brass. A touch of white (or luminescent) paint adds some accent. In dingy water, brass gets the nod, with the addition of chartreuse or gold fleck paint. One could argue that in 30 feet of water how much color can a bass actually see? But experience has shown that certain colors are more productive depending on the scenario, so visibility must come in to play.

An exception to the “fish vertically” recommendation relates to working along a steep break-line. In situations where you want to work a lengthy section, it can be productive to use the trolling motor to inch along the edge, around .3 mph, trailing a blade bait behind, working it in the same pump-pause cadence recommended.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle