Thank you for all the helpful info guys!

Does the bite usually get better or does it slow down out there towards the end of the season. I am going to head that way for a long weekend but I need to know if it’s as good as it’s gonna get now or do I got a little time to make a plan and maybe get a buddy to come with.thank you for all the info so far. Greatly appreciate it. Tired of fishing the same old lakes need some new scenery.

Ok thanks for any info
Any size to them or all that 15 to 20 range?

Yes I forgot to mention that too always use 91 or better ethanol kills small engines. Especially 2 stroke. I hope its a quick fix nothing wrecks a weekend like having an auger that doesn’t start.

Do the smitty sleds really help that much? I have a flip over clam and my brother has a hub style he liked his hub but this year he bought a flip over and he says he likes it much better not having to worry about remembering everything cuz with a flip over everything is in the sled and stays in it. Everything stays right in my flip over. Auger, rod case, bucket of tip ups, (if I am planning on using them), bucket of shiners, vexilar, heater, and a tackle box. I just lift one end up lean it on the tail gate and then lift the other end and slide it in. The weight of pulling it by hand is kinda shity but I like the comfort more.

I suggest using better oil too. Mojo is right seafoam is awesome stuff. I put it in everything from my ice auger to my truck. Dont need much every tank of gas in the auger gets a little bit. I have the same auger and I use amsoil. I dont know what kind of oil your using but it must not be to good if its gumming up in a year. Theres nothing else that could get in the crab unless the gas you put in it has gunk in it.

I would look into a 243 before a 223 the 243 is a more accurate shooting bullet the ballistic coefficient is much better. I do long range Compton shooting and in small caliber shoots 9 times outta 10 everyone shoots a 243. The good part about that round is you can use any gun from a savage axis to a howa, sako, or a high end Remington. As long as you have a good optic on it it will shoot 500 yards accurately enough to put a coyote down everytime. If you wanted to go further I suggest going with only handloads. I have a Remington 243 with Nightforce on top bull barrel and a McMillan stock. I can get half moa groups no problem at 600 with that. Its by far the best round that you can shoot fast and have awesome knockdown power. Also if you intend to use handloads do a ladder test with atleasr 4 or 5 different grain weights. That can make a huge difference in accuracy when you get out to thatlonger range.

Castle rock… I saw that too! I had a hard time deciding two years ago as well. So I went to cabelas.com and simply read all the reviews and bought the Eskimo 43cc auger. Its the only one on the market that had a cast crankcase cover. To me that was huge considering jiffy and strikemaster both had many reviews of leaking or cracked covers. And it simply had the least amount of poor reviews. Now I’m not saying everyone on cabelas that writes a review is knowledgeable. But I just went off simple things like recoil and the mechanicals like the throttle cables and thumb tab on the jiffy are kinda chintzy also I thought the plastic throttle arms on the strikemaster not something I want to mess with. The Eskimo throttle cables have a quick snap back when let go. Yes strikemaster has the Honda motors and that’s good but there were lots of bad reviews on there recoil problems. And the could wreck a good day of fishing real quick if you can’t get it fixed on the ice. If you go with gas get a two stroke they are simple motors that good power. If something did happen a two stroke motor is at least half the price to get fixed. I race motocross and still to this day I will take a two stroke any day due to the simple fact of how easy they are to fix and work on. Also I love the smell. that’s my take on auger choice when picking yours just think of the simple things like reliability and the mechanicals, specs, and maybe gear ratios cuz that can give you an idea of power and speed of the machine

2 stroke is by far the best. I mixed up a one gallon tank two years ago and still haven’t used it all so I will be getting rid of that gas and getting some fresh stuff. I drill easily 300 holes a year the new two strokes burn less gas then the older ones and or dont leak. It is cheaper than propane and with the propane augers that I have used I was not impressed. Last year me and a buddy fished when it was 0 degrees and he got about 4 holes out of a two year old propane jiffy and it just wouldn’t start. Do yourself a huge favor and check out the three or four top makes of augers and see which one is the only one that makes a metal crankcase cover. That will surprise you. When plastic warms up and cools down frequently it warps and then you will find it will leak oil. Everyone that posted grout up great points and everyone fishes different from drilling holes in a shelter to only drilling a few or to hundreds of holes a day. If you treat a two stroke good it will last forever. I let mine warm up for 5 minutes while I set up my pop up get my rods ready or pick out my tip UPS that I want to use.

i am not sure when exactly my brother just moved to Grassy Butte from wisconsin this fall so neither of us really know anything about that lake but i would like to give it a shot, something different than just fishing the same old lakes every year.