Interesting article Roberta. It was hard to load and locate on that website though, too many popups and spyware! Anyway, it was interesting to see how the fish eat such tiney foods. Here in ice fishing territory it explains why the fish are so inactive. They don't need to be active, and they don't have enough food to maintain high activity. That explains the severely soft bite too.
This is the title of the article (below), I don't think Roberta's link takes you straight to the page, it's a weirdly navigated site, but a good site.
What Do Panfish Eat in the Winter?
When our waters freeze over, the food supply for panfish is severely depleted. Here's what they eat to survive, and how you can "match the hatch" to catch them.