Saw quite a few ice fisherman on one of the larger ponds in the area today, also the Connecticut River was almost totally frozen in Springfield, a few open spots but another week and it may be solid.
2015 started on January 26th so there's still time to pull off a good year, I wouldn't mind a lot of nickel and dime events either but would always welcome a 20+ incher.
My sister was a lifer, sometime ending up in the ER when she was younger, but they give her something now that has almost eliminated them, I'll have to ask her what it is, she's 61 now so maybe age related too.