Yes it will definetly get better, its normal for the carp to be biting so softly in the winter, but I believe they are spawning right now, carp spawn when a river suddenly rises, they go and scatter their eggs around bushes that would otherwise be out of the water in about 1-2 feet of water, and the Willamette did rise pretty quickly over the past two weeks.
I have tried many combinations of dough recipes, with flour and cornmeal being the main ingrediants. I have tried making peanut butter doughballs, sweet doughballs (honey, dash of suger, syrup), cherry koolaid doughballs, plain doughballs, vanilla doughballs, and more. I have been planning on trying to make some boilies or pop ups, which might happen today or tomorrow