Fair-hooked carp in January - ain't no lie...

I was so-so on fishing today, in part because I didn't have much time, and also because it's so damn cold out there right now. I don't fear the pain of the cold, but frozen guides are maddening at times like this... I decided to give it a go. I knew flow would be down from last week (yes - we had a January rain event here in MN)... and around 1:45 PM today I confirmed that it was down enough at my carp hole to make for decent fishing opps. I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to get the fish to take a fly though - some people have suggested that at certain temps carp will not eat. In November/December I got one fair-hooked carp I think - I watched him take the fly... it was cold then, but it was very cold today. In fact, air temp never got above +18 F. When I was out there, it was rising from ~15.5 to 17 F, and then at 3 PM just as I was leaving it began to plummet and snow started to fall. Even with flow being agreeable, I still had ice to deal with - this spot has steep slopes down to the River, and in winter they are usually covered with ice... making it impossible to get to the bank to land a fish. It's hard to explain, but let's just say I've already been stranded on the bank once as night fell, because ice had caged me in... it was a scary deal, so I was extra careful today. I was about to give up - even thinking I could try to hook a carp, play him to the high bank and then break him off (bad idea)... when I saw a single, solitary, ice-free path down to the river!! It was a sign for sure... I scrambled down and within five minutes landed my first carp of 2007 on a girdle bug - hooked perfectly inside the mouth. I think the firsh was around 6-7 pounds... no big runs or dramatic battle - took a while, but came in pretty easily due to cold. I proceeded to foul hook three more before heading out (only had an hour to fish). I don't know how cold the water was (the discharge from the dam is mid-column from the reservoir), but my estimate is DAMN COLD - near freezing. For sure single digit Celsius. It was a pretty great little outing... I do have to admit that by the end of the hour, my feet were getting pretty numb. I did see carp swimming around, and rolling like they do on occasion. I also tried out some flies that I tied in response to the mini-swap I did with J. Montana and Zonker from CAG (see pic). I will say this - that fly looks so damn good in the water... it is modeled after a fly that Zonker tied. It sinks with all its rubber legs waving up in the air... "eat me, eat me."