Fishing off the dock at Port Hope during winter?

This mild weather's been annoying since I'm new to fishing and don't feel safe going out on less than 6-8 inches of ice. I'm dying to fish and just want to wet a line. I've been fishing in Port Hope before and loved it but I want to know if the water freezes there or not. I was at a river mouth and the place was very comfortable to fish off the dock. It had a nice fish cleaning station and everything I just need to remember where it was and how to get there. Also, is there anywhere that has safe ice to fish on?