"The big-fish bite is more predictable during this time of the year," he said. "Blues up to 30 pounds are not uncommon, and there are lots of 5- to 10-pound blues caught at this time of the year. Nothing is absolute in fishing, but we generally catch fish in the 15- to 30-pound-plus range on most trips during this time of the year. There are some really huge fish in this lake as well, but you can't expect to hook up with those fish on every trip."

Nichols said that his preferred technique for wintertime fishing on Lake Norman is to drift-fish. But speed and depth are keys to success.

"Drift with the wind to your back, and if it's blowing at five to 10 miles per hour, that should make your boat speed just about right," he said. "I like to drift at a speed of .7 to 1.0 miles per hour. I use my GPS to track my speed. This enables me to cover a reasonable amount of area at a speed that seems to trigger bites from the blues.

"I also fish the places where the wind is blowing because it tends to stack up the forage in those areas," he said. "A great scenario is when we get a couple of days in a row with a steady wind from one direction. That will usually load the forage up in the downwind coves and flats. That's the specific places I start to drift. If the area has a hump or point, the blues will often gang up when feeding heavily. But sometimes, it's just a real consistent bite over a general area."

Nichols added that the preferred depth is usually in the 15- to 25-foot range for this time of the year. But he added that occasionally the wind will push bait far back in a cove or pocket and he's caught some huge blues in water less than 10 feet deep.

For wintertime blue catfish, Nichols' preferred bait is gizzard shad and he fishes several rods on the drift.

"Typically, I'll drift with six rods," he said. "I like medium-action 7- to 8-foot rods with baitcasting reels. I bait a couple of rigs with 4- to 6-inch whole gizzard shad for big fish. I'll also use 2-inch chunks of cut gizzard on other rods. My fallback bait is white perch if I can't get gizzard shad. The threadfin are great baits in terms of fish biting them, but they are so soft, they get knocked off the hook easily. Plus, they are a favored target of white perch, so it's hard to keep threadfin on the hook for extended periods."

The drift rig used by Nichols, and the other experts following on the other lakes we'll discuss, is fairly simple and easy to rig. Using a 30- to 36-inch leader of 50-pound-test line, he places a 1 1/2- to 2-inch cigar float about 6 inches from the hook to drift the bait just off the bottom. Above the barrel swivel, he uses a 3/4- to 1-ounce snake-type sliding sinker.