Fishing is hard in the winter and when you break stuff in the process it's even worse. I don't know about the stripes in the winter, but I can tell you that the Ky's, Smallies, and Largemouth aren't anymore turned on by the cold weather than the rest of us. I don't blame them for not wanting to come to the top of the water...it's colder out than in! Look at it this way though...if you didn't go you'd been wondering if you could caught fish...well now you know...but it probably won't stop you from doing something similar again next year because when you get fishin' in the blood and on the brain not much will detour you!