Power Auger

[Anderson]

personally i like a 10 in auger for fishing Superior The water is crystal clear and you can see down to the bottom in 15 to 20 ft When your in a dark hut you can actually see them swim up to your bait or lure which makes for some pretty exciting fish tv

On the other hand when your fishing some backwoods lake for specks or walleyes a 6 or 8" hand crank is fine easy to pack and if the ice is more than 24" you can always get your buddy to help drill tandem style very quick and you won"t have sore arms the next day

The wost senerio is going fishing with your buddy that says I"ll bring the auger only to find out on the lake that it has been stored in his shed without the guard on and has been banged around rusty and doesent cut S--t 20 min to cut one 8 " hole in 18 in" of ice BAAAAH

Same with a power auger I watched this guy with an 8" power auger 15 min to drill through 2ft of ice he was amazed when I drilled 2 10 in holes for him in under 5 min. Keep "em sharp stay safe and have fun BTW my buddy with the crappy hand auger I helped him out by putting the chain on his new power saw on backwards Chuck

[Fishnwire]

My hand auger is fine up until around the end of February. By then up here we sometimes have close to two feet. That's not bad if you're just going to drill two holes for yourself, but if you're committed to doing your elderly partner's hole's too, or if you feel like moving around, the power auger would be nice. I have to admit there have been times when I was not catching fish and knew I should move but just didn't feel like popping four fresh holes with the hand crank, so I stayed put.

 

I am used to a six inch hole, so I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with an eight inch. When I hear someone tell me that they lost a fish because they couldn't fit it through an eight inch hole, I'm always a little skeptical. I've seen some big fish come up through a six inch hole...it takes a bit of finesse, but it you can get a surprisingly big fish through that little hole. Any fish that just wouldn't fit through an eight inch hole would have to be really freakin' big. I'd like to think otherwise, but I don't have a realistic chance of jamming an eight inch hole where I'm going.

 

Wow...I just realized there are lots of joke opportunities with all this talk of holes and how many inches is best.

[Guest gbfisher]

Sure you can catch and pull a large fish through a little hole (6") but its easier to steer them to and bring up through a bigger hole. The more you play the fish at the hole the easier it is to lose it. I use a hand auger (6") up till the ice is a foot thick and then its power from there on in. Im very glad when I get to that change over period.

Edited December 10, 2009 by gbfisher

[DRIFTER_016]

My hand auger is fine up until around the end of February. By then up here we sometimes have close to two feet.

 

 

My hand auger is fine until the beginning of November.

By the end of February we have about 5 feet of ice!!!!

[Fishnwire]

My hand auger is fine until the beginning of November.

By the end of February we have about 5 feet of ice!!!!

 

 

I was e-mailed this a while back. Most of us have seen it I think.

 

 

 

 

Imagine hand cranking that.

[pike slayer]

i always just use my 6" hand for most of my ice fishing even when the ice is a good 3feet thick. i wanted to step it up to an 8" so i bought a used one on ebay for next to nothing, the shipping was actually more then the auger. The auger comes in and its a 10" hand auger! thats right you heard me! a 10" hand auger! theres no getting cold for me out on the ice, just go drill a hole or 2. once the ice gets past 2feet then i use the 6". i called mora about replacement blades, they told me those augers were made in the early 90s for a short period and didnt even know that any of those augers still even existed haha i wonder why!! 8" is the perfect balance not to big not to small. but since your talking power auger the bigger the better and yes i have stepped in one of those holes before lol

[Raf]

i like 3 10" holes with the center knocked out

 

so that i can figure 8 effectively

 

i really like it in march when the water running down the sides of the holes enlarges it even more. bigger the better i say.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Raf

[Guest gbfisher]

I didnt know you could figure 8 for trout....

[Raf]

donychya know they're all caught "just under the ice"?

[Guest gbfisher]

I thought you could only catch them 200 feet off shore.................... I thought everyone knew that...

[Terry]

10" holes are great

 

but those guys with their 12" augers, I mean really

you could lose a volkswagon in one of them

 

12", what are they thinking

[Guest gbfisher]

Now yer talkin.....Where can I get one.

[irishfield]

[I'mHooked]

The wost senerio is going fishing with your buddy that says I"ll bring the auger only to find out on the lake that it has been stored in his shed without the guard on and has been banged around rusty and doesent cut S--t 20 min to cut one 8 " hole in 18 in" of ice BAAAAH

 

How about borrowing an 8" hand op from your neighbour, get to the cottage at 8pm just in time to cut a hole or 2 for a little evening fun, only to not have made it more than 3-4" in 20+ minutes!

 

Ended up walking the shore knocking on cottages looking for a year round neighbour who might have one to borrow. We lucked out at about 10pm and someone lent us their 6" manual. Let us use it for the weekend. Cut 18" in a few minutes tops!

 

Ended up that the neighbour we got the 8" from had used it for fence post holes in his backyard, and thought the "blades felt fine " :wallbash:

 

Quite the learning experience for the 1st time ice fishing!

[Dabluz]

If budget and weight are of little or no concern....go with the 10 inch auger.

 

I do a lot of ice fishing for cod, halibut, lingcod, etc etc and I've never had any problems getting 40 lb cod through the 8 inch hole that my hand auger makes.

 

Ok....the 40 lb cod was a tight fit...lol.

 

Yes, a 10 inch hole does not close up as fast as an 8 inch hole.

 

Hand augers work ok if you keep the blades sharp and you do not bump the ice with the blades. I sharpen my blades myself and I'm not happy until the blades can shave the hair off my forearm. I have 2 sets of blades and carry the extra set in case. I never lend my hand auger. By late January, I often have to remove ice from around the hole I'm making with a hatchet because my auger is not long enough. Removing ice from around the hole allows the handle to turn. I should get an extension....lol.