After the spawn, Catfish are generally the most active when the water temperature is above 70deg and are very active feeders up to 85deg. In early spring and late fall when the water tempeartures are below 65 catfish are generally not very active, however they are still feeding. If you have a power plant close with cats in the cooling lake, the outlet during the winter will really concentrate the large fish.
Food Source
Blue catfish will eat almost anything put in front of them on certian days, they really have no preference to live or dead bait. There are endless combination of catfish bait out there, and every catfish angler has their favorite. Try fishing sand toads, live perch or brim, large shiners, minnow, nightcrawlers, rainbow trout, frogs, clam meat animal entrails, liver, soap chunks, doughballs, limburger cheese, live and dead fish, and the list goes on.
Blue Catfish can live beyond 20 years, and grow much faster than channel cats and can reach sizes of 20 to 30 lbs in the frist decade of life.