RE: How thick do you call safe ice?
2" -3" if it is black ice and no snow so I can see what I am walking on. 6" for my wheeler and 8-10" for my truck. This time of the year isn't a problem since we have 15" to 25" in most places. The trick is getting the last few days out of the season at the end (late March or early April)when the fishing is great. There is good ice and places to walk but it goes south even during a day.What was good ice in the morning can be bad at the end of the day. The good thing is we are usually chasinggills and crappie in the shallow weedy bays and if you do take a bath it isn't all that difficult to get out. Ice picks and a safety vest is the uniform of the day for all of us serious commercial fishermen.