Personaly I use the Yellow poly rope they sell. Cheap with I think at least 800lb rateing. The main thing to think about is if you use it for rescue purpose keep it big enough to hang on to. Also the poly rope will not absorb water and freeze.The only downfall to this rope is tying a knot, what I do is tie the knot and tape with elect tape to keep it from comming undone. Another thing to think about if useing for rescue, is put a loop in it this way the person can either slip loop around themself or wind loop around hands. When someone is in the water make it simple for them they will loose mobility fast. If you tie it to a boat bumper maybe tie the main line to one end and add a loop to the other end of bumper this way they can hang on to the bumper while the loop is around them. Maybe add just a simple overhand knots to rope every couple feet for you to pull the rope with and not let rope slip through hands. Sometimes what we do too is if the ice is very iffy tie a long say 20ft rope to yourelf and other anglers as you walk keeping distance between each other if someone does take a swim in deep water you can get that person back on top without much problems even if there head goes under the ice. But the best bet is if the ice is that bad stay off no fish is worth the life of anyone.
cold feet
