Hand Ice Auger

[THavas]

First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Tom, and I recently moved to Buffalo, MN from Pennsylvania. When I lived in PA, I spent most of the winter months chasing Steelhead and Brown Trout along the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario tributaries. Needless to say, the winter months bring along a different style of fishing that I am not too educated on. I have gone ice fishing out east with a buddy of mine a few times and he always had all the gear. The lakes never really got that thick (or safe) as they do in Minnesota. He has a fairly cheap ice auger we would use that he got for like $40. Primarily because we were only drilling through 4-8 inches of ice/slush.

The only gear I don't have much of is Ice Fishing gear...and I am eager to get out on the lakes. It KILLS me seeing all the ice houses and people out on the ice (especially today) So here are my two questions for you all so far:

1) Am I crazy for buying a hand auger? I have been looking at the Strikmaster Lazer 7" or 8"

2) I am familiar with tip-up fishing...do people still do it that way around here?...I know it has been a mild winter so far and it is allowing it more.

Thanks for your replies & tight lines to all!!!!

Tom Havas

[dan z]

Nope your nope crazy for the purchase of a 7-8" hand auger. most of us minnesotans have some niceness to us and if we see someone hand drilling we will come over and drill you a few if time/location is right. I use a 7" strikemaster during early ice and it works very well.

[jwmiller33]

dan z is right. you will see "minnesota nice" when someone will come punch your holes for you with a power auger when they see you hand drilling. in minnesota, depending where in the state you are, by february and march, you will be drilling thru nearly 2 feet of ice, so a hand auger is quite a load of work if no one is around with power augers

as for tip ups, they are very common around these parts. a lot of guys like to use one of their two lines for tip ups, sometimes two. personally, i like to have my two lines in the shack with me, usually one is a bobber line and the other i use for jigging. i never really have any luck when i use tip ups, and i am not a huge pike fan, so i concentrate my time more on walleyes/perch/panfish

welcome to minnesota!

EDIT: also, i would mention that if you are buying a hand auger, i'd go with the smaller (7 inch) instead of the 8 inch. ive never caught a fish that wouldnt fit thru a 6 inch hole,but there are fish out there that might be difficult to pull thru a smaller hole. like i said earlier, by mid/late ice season, there can be 18-26 inches of ice, and the wider your hole, the more work you have to do (in theory) when hand drilling

[hydro]

By all means go ahead with the hand auger, just be sure to stay with the 6" or 7' size. They are not too bad to use and will get you by without spending several hundred dollars for a power auger.

You do not need a power auger to fish in Minnesota!

[My_Key]

Hand augers are just fine. I used one all last winter. Unfortunately, I never ran into one of those kind fisherman who will drill holes for you. Maybe it was because I got out to the lake way before sun up and they were still all in bed?? It does become more of an effort late in the year when the ice gets close to 24" thick. I just have one piece of advice, KEEP THE BLADES SHARP!!! Dull blades will make it twice as much work.

[goblueM]

also if you have a buddy along, you can both drill at the same time, it goes a lot faster. Just stand across from each other and both have a hand on top and on the handle to crank

i second getting a 6 inch auger... an 8 inch is going to be a LOT more work

[bcoleman]

I just purchased Nils hand auger - 8 inch. It works great! Today I drilled though more than a foot of ice in less than a minute. The Nils does not require you to exert downward pressure. That is the way to go.

[herefish101]

A good hand auger can cut fast, I watched a guy with a nils handcranker and he was drillin through a foot of ice in like 10 cranks, my power auger put it to shame but for a handcrank it looked pretty nice.

[PierBridge]

I use a 6" Lazer Mag.. you'll be`happy with it.

[3littlemonsters]

you can also get by using holes other fishermen have drilled ealier..they're usually all over, just bring a spud or your hand auger.

[Lunker]

If you buy a hand auger, bUy quality(like the ones you mentioned). The budget brands do not perform well(in my experience) and dull easily. I actually have two, a 5" that performs most of my panfishing duties and an 8" that I use when pike/walleye fishing.

[minnbowhunter]

Welcome Tom, When I has young and had no money, I cut my holes with a hatchet. A hand auger would have been a luxury. I have drilled lots of holes for folks if the ice is thick.

[schweady]

With either of my 7 inch SM hand augers - Mora or Lazer - 2 revolutions (cranks) per inch of ice, no problem.

[tonkapat]

Nils 6" is a good choice. If you only could have one auger that would be the one. I use a hand auger for most of my fishing. The lazer is a good hand auger the nils is a great hand auger. I have one of each and the lazer has stayed home for a long time. Good luck

[THavas]

Thanks for all of the replies everybody. It's nice to get great feedback from people such as yourselves. I never really thought about the whole concept of the bigger the blade the more work you will be doing. Since I am still a young buck (30) I am probably going to run with a 7" for pike/musky(hope don't ever get a big one)/walleye. Panfish will slide right through just about any crack in the ice :-)

I don't have many, but maybe I will post some pictures from some of my friends & I fishing adventures when I lived out east sometime. Had some great fishing all year round for any species you could imagine almost.

Anyways, thanks again...and keep those rod tips a jiggin and tip-ups a springin'

TH

[THavas]

I just purchased Nils hand auger - 8 inch. It works great! Today I drilled though more than a foot of ice in less than a minute. The Nils does not require you to exert downward pressure. That is the way to go.

Which ones require downward pressure?...I thought they all do pretty much to initiate a drill and center it.

I am going to look into the Nils auger since you brought it up. I am curious about it now.

Thanks for the input though!

[mrfish1991]

I have the 6" lazer hand auger and I am very happy with it. Ive used it for 2 seasons pretty hard and not had to change out the blades.

I had the 8" lazer hand auger and it was about 2-3 times more work to drill the holes.

They are somewhat expensive but deff worth the money you spend.

[nemoski]

I have the 7" Lazer and it works great. Just keep the blade protected when not in use and you will have no problem going through 12" of ice in a minimal amount of time.

[opsirc]

I useed a 7" hand auger for years, with sharp blades they will cut well. However the last couple of years I had it, it got to be a lot of work drilling holes thru 2 1/2 - 3 feet of ice. Was not lucky enough to have some one drill holes for me. If you plan on doing a lot of fishing and drilling a lot of holes, would think of getting a power auger down the road.

Used tip-ups for years, caught a lot of fish with them.

[Twins Guy]

thavas-i am a lifelong minnesotan but sadly a new convert to ice fishing (missed out on 30 winters of fishing-doh!).

i picked up a new unused strikemaster mora (7 or 8"-is that ridiculous that i don't know? the previous owner said 8 but when i put my tape measure on the cutting blades it looked like 7 to me) this spring on hsolist for a song. i've drilled about 75 holes with it and i think it works great. of course i haven't tried any other hand augers-YET!

i heard so many great things about the nils that i decided to order one from the big c store. going to pick it up tomorrow! and really excited to try it out! i can anticipate a move to a power auger in the future but also wanted a hand auger for potentially drilling holes for laker fishing on treks into the bwca. so the nils made sense and i can add the tanaka powerhead later if desired.

now to the real reason i posted. i have an offer for ya (i apologize if some perceive this as soliciting). if you wanted to try both augers out-the mora and the nils (8") you're welcome to meet me on a west or southwest metro lake this weekend to try em out. if you like the mora or just want to "get your foot in the door" i would trade it for a 12 pack of beer. if you decide you want to go the nils route i probably won't sell you mine but i won't be offended either;) i may be a little longwinded with a beer or three in me online but i'm not a stalker, weirdo or "looking for a friend." you would be doing me a favor taking the auger as i am hoping my girlfriend won't notice the difference between the 2 "blue" augers or ask questions-which means unloading the mora is requisite. post here if you're interested and i will get you my email address.

as other have mentioned you don't NEED a power auger to fish minnesota ice. it might be convenient or faster but if you are young and fit the hand drilling just keeps you warm.

tg

tg