Till the first person goes through .

probably depends where you are - in winnipeg, its probably just after christmas to end feb/early march

Yes of course it depends where you are, and also what the recent temperatures have been, and for how long, and all sorts of things I guess ... not claiming to be an expert myself. It's just that every year people fall through the ice, so it's not something to be blase about.

My original post was slightly tongue in cheek, as most likely there was a good layer of solid ice if people were ice fishing there .... but I was just saying, even the locals get it wrong sometimes, and just because you see someone else doing it, doesn't necessarily make it a safe thing to do!

Edit: I found this How to Tell .... wiki article: http://www.wikihow.com/Know-When-Ice-is-Safe

cold, Eh?