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[Daveorock]

I've played DF for quite some time, but never embarked anywhere too cold. Now, I embarked on a cold (not freezing) spot, but the brook there never thaws. There is a volcano and so a magma source that I could use to thaw the brook, but I don't know the best way to do that. My forts typically depend heavily on fishing for a few years, and I'm now running low on meat (no hunters yet) and I'm struggling to use farming as my main food source this early in the fort (less than a year).

1) Best way to thaw a brook? (Will tunneling out the rock 2 Z levels below the ice (rock below the rock below the ice) and flooding it with magma melt the ice?)
2) Even if it is fully thawed (and flowing), will fish return to it?

[Quietust]

#1: Dig a passage exactly 1 Z-level beneath the brook, then pump magma into it, ideally stopping before it fills all the way. If you want to melt the map edge as well, then you'll need to smooth+fortify the map edges underneath the brook and be prepared to constantly pump magma into it, as it will then drain off the map edge.
#2. Yes, your fisherdwarves should be able to catch fish from it.

[Aspgren]

I might mention that if you want to use the magma for something else after the brook is thawed - you can redirect the thawed brook underground.

 You see when it's below a natural ceiling it NEVER freezes over. However, if it is below a built floor, it freezes instantly.

[O11O1]

I should also point out (having found this out the hard way) That if you let the magma channel fill up completely, it stops counting as flow, and allows the water to refreeze.