Fishing on a dime – Auger selection

Ok, got some thinking so now lets break this down a bit for anglers without gear. Let’s assume the angler has the right clothing to comfortably fish – there’s plenty of topics on best gloves, muck boots, etc. What’s next, making a hole the ice to get to the water. I highly recommend a spud bar (though my bro dropped mine and it’s on the bottom of the lake) despite any augers owned. Not only is it good for early ice, testing ice, etc. it’s also great for chipping out yesterday’s holes to reuse if there wasn’t a hard freeze overnight.

Hand augers: Do you recommend one for all game fish and pan fish or since you’re drilling by hand recommend just going with a small diameter for easier drilling and stick to pan fishing? Which auger would you recommend?

Power augers: Gas can leak and stink up the family car and they’re big and bulky to even get in a small car. Is it better then to use propane or get an electric? If electric, do you recommend a smaller diameter so you get more holes out of a battery? Gas vs Electric vs price/usability/transport/storage… what would you get?

Or, should a new ice angler skip an auger and find buddies with one? Are there rentals available and would that be cost effective? Maybe a newbie should just skip buying anything and pay a guide that equips.

My vote would be for a 6 inch hand auger. A 6 inch hole will still allow you to fish for many fish other than panfish. A 6 inch auger can also be driven by a cordless drill as an upgrade.

“Or, should a new ice angler skip an auger and find buddies with one?” If pennies are extremely tight, I’ll bet in most cases, one could walk out to a group on the ice, explain your situation and ask if they could help you out. Nine times out of ten, they are going to drill you a couple holes.

This is to the extreme, but on Poygan we were fishing in a city out on the ice. It was crowded during the day but in the evening it became quite deserted. A small truck came out and two guys with small locators and a pole started hitting all the holes left behind by others. I don’t know how well they did, but they were all over the place fishing without an auger in sight.

When I first started to ice fish I went with a buddy who already had all the equipmen which was his dads borrowed equipment, gas auger, shanty, tip ups, one vexilar. all i had was a cheap fleet farm rod and i did catch fish once i figured the depth they were biting in. the auger was an old jiffy which my buddy hated because it wouldnt start sometimes, and often threw it on the ice in anger,(maybe thats why it was junk) I suggest you make a friend with equipment to get started the first year you go out, so you will get an idea of what works. now that i had a year with just a jigging pole i decided to get the rest of the equipment in stages. first was a hand auger, then marcum. now i got a gas auger 10in strikemaster and a otter house. the equipment is an investment and will last years to come. all in all i spent about 1200

Ice fishing is not a cheap sport. However, you don’t need to spend thousand to make it fun. I started out on a budget of $500 per year investment into the sport bc I started in college and was working a part time job. First year was an portable ice house, heater and hand auger with couple cheap rods. The following year was a LX-5 and finally got a power gas auger on the 3rd year. It will take time before you have everything but as many stated, ice fishing is a hobby/sport and these kind of things will take funding. Just build it slow and you will have everything you need a year or two.

The body of water shown on the show are not something that I will go to and try but they do give information of how to fish local lakes. Granted, I plan a weekend trip or two a year and put in an extra tank of gas to make it there but 9 out of 10 times, it is worth the drive and investment.

I would hop on craigslist or online message boards and search for a used power auger. I’ve got nothing against hand augers, they work great in certain situations but it’s not worth the hassle for Minnesota winters IMO. 2′ of ice and hand augers don’t make the best combo.
There are old Strikemaster Tecumseh augers on there for $150-250 and maybe throw a few bucks in for a tune up and they will run like a top.

I would suggest hand auger for less than 10″ of ice. Anything more and it too much for a work out. Granted in my past I drilled through 20+ inches on a hand auger but it something I would not go back to.

BUY USED IN THE OFF SEASON! yes, you stare at it all summer long, but come next year you have awesome gear for typically 1/2 the price. Everything I own for ice fishing, I purchased used off season via craigslist or online clearance sales.

Deals are always out there, you have to be willing to jump on them quickly with cash in hand. Example – I got a barely used Ion Auger last spring for $300, saw the ad online at 8:00am, met the guy and purchased it by 9:00am…

I keep a “craigslist” envelope and throw whatever extra cash I have in it for quick purchases, skip going to the bar one weekend and boom, you got an easy $50 in the envelope…it takes time, so don’t expect to fully outfit yourself quickly…

Unless the ice gets super thick I could get by with my 6″ Nils Master hand auger. Also, if you have a drill, you can buy the Nils with the drill attachment already on it, or buy/build an adapter, which I am currently shopping for.

Huntindave wrote:

My vote would be for a 6 inch hand auger. A 6 inch hole will still allow you to fish for many fish other than panfish. A 6 inch auger can also be driven by a cordless drill as an upgrade.

Great idea, do your homework on the right hand auger and upgrade with the drill attachments. Then what drill and adapter?

6 inch lazer hand auger with sharp blades and you can cut through a foot of ice fairly easily. Anything over 6 inches of ice and I use my power auger. As Ben said, you can find a lot of deals on craigslist. I sell slightly used gear all the time when I want to change something out or upgrade, or just don’t use it enough. E-bay is another place to find good deals on stuff.

Cordless drill adapters are easy to come by, but make sure you put on an oversized ring or plate so if for some reason the chuck loosens your auger does not go down the hole. As far as a drill, everything I have heard is 18 volts and 450lbs of torque is the minimum for power, I use personally a Menards 20v Masterforce with lithium batteries. I can get 15 holes through ice that was safe to drive full size trucks on. The drill kit comes with 2, 1.5ah batteries for 119.00, but I bought a 2.0ah battery and that battery got the 15 holes. Now with the 1.5ah battery and 5in of clear hard ice I was able to get 35 holes this year early ice with it. I use a 6in Lazer auger .

If I could buy any drill on the market right now, I would buy a high end Milwaukee with the lithium batteries’ and 4ah. Those drills boast 700lbs of torque and would turn a 6in auger like butter. And the 4.0ah would give a lot of run time.

Ben Brettingen wrote:

There are old Strikemaster Tecumseh augers on there for $150-250 and maybe throw a few bucks in for a tune up and they will run like a top.

That would be my recommendation as well. If you find one that hasn’t been rode hard and put up wet they’re basically indestructible and you should be able to pick one up for under $200. Personally I only use a hand auger when there’s less than 6″ of ice or the local ordinances require it. I think I’d quit ice fishing altogether if I had to hand punch holes fishing in MN mid-winter. Yuck.

I agree, more that 6″ of ice and only option is a hand auger I’d probably find a different hobbie. I’m holding out for a good electric. Personally, I mostly panfish and the guys I hunt game fish with all have gas or propane augers. I do too much walleye fishing open water so ice is my time to get back to my real passion of pan fishing. There’s something about catching numbers repetitively that gets to me. After I day of bobber fishing I often have dreams of watching the bobber go down. You guys may do better than I do but I’ve found the average catch rate of any “keeper” size game fish is one fish per hour – that is averaged throughout the entire year with about 75 days per year fishing. Walleye league and tournament participation included.

Only fish on nice days and just use open holes that other people have drilled………FREE

Thinking back to when I got started, the key for me was finding a good friend with the same passion. That way, you can share the costs. We split the cost of an auger, picked up old houses off-season, and just added stuff as we could. I remember several times driving to his house to get gear before heading out as he had them last time out. Nothing we had was off limits to the other. This went for summer gear as well.

ET

John Schultz wrote:

E-bay is another place to find good deals on stuff.

That’s because after meeting you I know those selling on E-bay likely see you the same way and know they better not mess with you. When they see me they think there’s a guy I can really rip-off.

7″ Mora and be young.

I got a good deal at scheels for a used strikemaster 10 inch. It lasted me 7 years with a little tlc before I bought the new 4 cycle 8 inch

I’ve been using a Mora hand auger that’s been fine up to about a foot. Now the ice on my ‘walk to’ lake is about 15-18″. Took a lot of effort yesterday to dig 2 holes. Since I am ‘hoofing’ it from my house to the lake, I’m trying to figure what type of auger to get since I want to keep the weight low (propane, lithium, or hand drill) without breaking the bank.

jonbodin wrote:

I’ve been using a Mora hand auger that’s been fine up to about a foot. Now the ice on my ‘walk to’ lake is about 15-18″. Took a lot of effort yesterday to dig 2 holes. Since I am ‘hoofing’ it from my house to the lake, I’m trying to figure what type of auger to get since I want to keep the weight low (propane, lithium, or hand drill) without breaking the bank.

I’ve been using my 6″ w/cordless drill for three years now-almost completely exclusively on ice up to 18″. Obviously, the number of holes drops at 18″, but if I don’t need more than a dozen holes or so my old 18v DeWalt does it. I’ll end up getting into the spare battery if more than that, but overall I’m amazed that more guys don’t use them. I still have and do use my gas auger, but only when weight isn’t an issue-basically I can drive right to my spot.
I know I’ve plugged this before, but this guy makes them for several different auger styles, comes with a “keeper” so you don’t drop your auger into the drink, and if you call him he’ll spend the time talking drill and auger options with you. Good customer service experience, and cheap at less than $30. I’ve got four years on mine now. Worth a look at least: http://www.icemasteradapter.com

-Rev

I just got in to ice fishing last year. First purchases were rods because I had friends with equipment. I found a hand auger on CL for dirt cheap. Let me tell you in the winter of the polar vortex and winter kills it was not easy punching those holes. Good thing I didn’t know any better. I had an 8 inch strikemasger mora. The one benefit to it was when everyone was scrambling to find extensions late in the season I could still get through. Fast forward to this year. Over the summer I bought a marcum showdown troller. Good unit for me on a budget and doubles as a summer canoe unit. Late fall dicks sporting goods had a break the ice event was able to score a 2-3 person shelter for under $200 new. Bought the heater, slowly kept building the tackle and picked up a few more ice combos for a total of 4. Couple weeks ago saw a sweet deal on a entry level power auger and snatched it up. Got a tip up/ice cleats/other accessories as Christmas gifts. Sitting pretty good now. Would like to upgrade to an lx-7 and get one for the old lady as well and eventually would like to upgrade to a thermal shelter. I am eyeing up a couple of those TUCRs too. Maybe someday a 4-wheeler or sled but that is a few years out yet. It can be done with a bit of patience and deal hunting.

If you are sure you want to get into ice fishing, there are a few MUST have’s. Nothing worse that hand augering a hole, working up a good sweat and then getting cold because of it. Power auger is a must have, you can use it on 2″ of ice to 3 plus feet of ice with an extension. A entry level flasher, after the first trip with one, you will know why. A couple rods and reels sized to the fish you are fishing for. Some basic tackle. A couple 5gal pails to carry all your new gear out with. To me that is the basics, all the rest is window dressing. As said above, save and buy when you can. When you get the bug, too much is not enough.