Whether or not the fish are biting is a day-to-day activity here in Iowa... We don't have the good fishing our neighbors to the North enjoy. In spite of having a foot or better of ice almost everywhere, a guy I've fished with a couple of times went through the ice yesterday. Primarily here we have resevoirs and river backwaters, with lots of springs and current areas, so ice conditions are pretty unpredictable.
I heard up on the Mississippi River the saugers were committing suicide, but I naturally can't get out of family and work obligations long enough to make the two hour trip.
A channel cat on New Year's day??? Man, you must be quite a ways South compared to me. Our forktails are all laying in the bottom of the deepest hole they can find waiting until spring.