Taylor added that if there is little or no current through the lake, he will drift-fish the same general areas. He'll look for signs of baitfish in the vicinity to help clue him to the most likely area for blues.

"I specifically like the McDowell Creek to Gar Creek area, but there are good places all along the river," he said. "One key to success on this lake is patience. Keep trying areas until you locate an area with plenty of fish.

"My preferred way to catch a big blue at Mountain Island is to drift-fish in the middle portion of the lake," Taylor said. "My preferred bait is whole or cut gizzard shad, with cut white perch a good backup bait. Threadfin shad are good baits, but soft and hard to keep on the hook."

Taylor said that while Mountain Island Lake is very productive during the winter, it could also be slow on some days.

"Generally, I expect to catch several fish in the 10- to 20-pound class during a day of fishing at Mountain Island, and I have caught them up to 42 pounds here," he said. "But there are some much larger blue catfish than that in here. A good day will produce 10 to 15 fish, sometimes a lot more. But some days it's tough to scratch out even a few fish. That's where patience and perseverance will pay off. Don't quit quickly, give the fish time to turn on."

The final Catawba River hotspot for wintertime blues is Lake Wylie. While the blue catfish fishery is not as far advanced as it is at Lake Norman, targeting blues at the 13,443-surface-acre lake is very realistic.

According to Dieter Melhorn, a Lake Wylie catfishing expert, the winter months are easily the most productive and predictable times to catch blue catfish of the entire year.

"During the cold months, the blue catfish seem to really stack up in the upper portion of the river," Melhorn said. "The best fishing is consistently in the two main arms of the lake, the South Fork River and the Catawba River."

Melhorn said the South Fork has a big advantage in one sense, because of the hot water discharge at the Allen Steam Plant.

"During the winter, such as in December and January, the water is warmed several degrees by this discharge," Melhorn said. "That certainly draws in the baitfish, which, of course, attracts blue catfish in big numbers. It's an ideal setup for having a lot of catfish in a fairly small area.

"However, the fairly small area also presents a bit of a problem, in my opinion," Melhorn said. "The water depths in the South Fork arm of the river are such that there's not nearly as much potentially productive fishing area as there is up the Catawba River arm of the lake. So there is definitely a tradeoff in terms of fishing opportunities."

Rodger Taylor also fishes Lake Wylie frequently and agrees with Melhorn on the best areas to fish on this lake for blue catfish.