hand auger

[nitromonkey]

whats a good hand auger and how long does it take to drill a hole do any of them have ability to redrill hole

im kinda new to ice fishing but cant afford gas and who has best deal

[ivegottabite]

nitromonkey-

first off, welcome aboard! this is a great site to get you started on ice fishing and anything else for that matter

i have a blue mora 6" hand auger. i think that they are one of the better ones to get. i think it was in the mid 30's for price which isn't bad at all. if you get too large of a diameter hand auger it will take longer to cut and will be harder to cut.

the key with the hand augers is to keep the blades sharp and don't ding them at all! if you do they will cut very poorly. i've never drilled over 10 inches of ice with a hand auger but i know it is much easier to use a gas one.

hope this helps, just a quick note-check pawn shops, bait shops, or the forsale forum here for a used gas auger. you may be able to get one for cheaper than you think.

[upnorth]

I have a mora seven inch which I carry with me until the ice is thick enough for me to drive, and for me to feel comfortable driving we are talking about 12 inches. At twelve inches it is not too bad couple minutes or less to punch a hole, if the blades are sharp. If they are not sharp it is a lessen in frustration, they have blade guards for a reason, use them. When all I had was a hand auger I have drilled through 3 feet of ice and it was a real chore, you wind up virtually on your knees to get through the last few inches of ice. And definetly think about it some before you move around much.

One note, I kept an eye on the local want ads and found an old used gas auger for $75 and it worked for me until I could scrape together the $ for a new gas auger. The used deals are out there but you do have to keep an open eye out for them.

Good luck and have fun on the ice.

[Surface Tension]

nitromonkey, The Mora is probably the cheapest hand auger out there. I have a 7" Mora thats 20 years old and it still gets used. Like what Ivegattabite says the smaller dia the easier it is to drill. How fast it will drill is up to the operator In 12" of ice you should be able to keep up with a power auger. Redrilling holes with the Mora is almost impossible and the jarring and jamming could bend the mount the blades attachs to. The Lazer is newer then the Mora and some say they are faster cutting, in my experience this isn't the case. If you have sharp blades on the Mora it'll cut nicely. Like any shaver style blade one tiny ding will goof up the cutting operation. We're getting into mid season and augers will start going on sale and should be able to get a Mora for under 30 bucks. Used is another way to go but most you can count on having to buy new blades, kinda makes new more appealing.

[Northlander]

Get yourself a Nilsmaster hand auger. The fastest hand auger I have ever used!

[smallieobsession]

I'd like to add a BIG second on the Nils Master hand Auger. I have a six incher. I'm a newbie to ice fishing and have had to gear up from square one and didn't want to drop the cake on a power auger just yet since I needed a portable shack and bunch of other stuff first so I spent $72 on the Nils Master that I found in the cabelas bargin cave and was totaly blown away by the ease AND speed with which it does the job. I can have three holes drilled in 15 inches of ice before most guys with power augers can get theirs fired up and done with one hole.

Cabelas sells them under a private leable/cabelas brand but it is a Nils Master no doubt. They come in 4 1/2, 6 & 8. I'd be curious to try the 8 incher. I'm sure it cuts a little harded but porbably not much. A good buy all round.

[duck2]

How does the Nils Master hand auger work on reopening re-frozen holes? Also, could the Nils Master shaft be hooked on to those cordless drill adapters? Thanks

[smallieobsession]

Duck2, I've not actually tried to reopen a hole. Since I only fish out of a portable, I'm always drilling new holes anyway. As for the power drill...don't know that either...I've not really looked at one of those adaptors so couldn't say. What I can say though is the the Nils Master Auger blade does go right onto the Nils Master (tanka) power head and becomes a regular Nils Master power auger. That's one of the reasons I bought it was so that that when i could afford the cake for a power auger....If I bought an 8in Nils power auger than I could use my 6 as well.

If I'd do it again, I'd just buy the 8 in hand auger then buy the power head when I could afford (who really needs a powered 6 in being my logic).

I would think that you could figure out a way to make it work with a coredless pretty easy.

[Redlantern]

I was out yesterday fishing and tried drilling through an older hole. It was probably an eight or ten inch hole someone else had used before. Anyway, I drilled through it with my six inch Nils handauger and had NO problems at all.

[bigdog]

I had a Mora and now have a Lazer. The Mora was okay but after awhile something must have gotten screwed up because it quit cutting even with new blades. The Lazer works better than the Mora ever did and it reopens holes. You have to pull up on the Lazer as you drill otherwise it takes such a bite that it is hard to turn. Never tried the Nils model.

[DP]

They have them at Gander right now for as cheap as $25 (for the Eskimo). I picked one up early season and it works fine, I cut through 18" of ice with it on my 1st LOW trip this year.

[jweitgen]

I have always used a hand auger all season long. I use a 6" and 8". The six is the only way to go once there is over a foot of ice. I put a new set of blades on every year and it isn't that bad. Once the ice gets thick though, I tend not to drill much .

Forget reopening holes with these augers.

When going with the hand auger, make sure it has the adjustable handle so you can get a little leverage, especially if you are short like me.

[Catchemfast]

Redlantern, 8-10 inches four days ago? Where are you fishing. I have 24" everywhere I am fishing

As far as the hand augers go...I have a Lazer 6". I bought it from Wal-Mart four or five years ago. I think I paid around $40. That auger is GREAT!!! Until we have over two feet(like now), I can drill a hole as fast as any power auger. I do get new blades around late Feb. every year(approx. 8-12 dollars). I did get a power auger this year though, and a new job that paid 20K more per year. I figured that I could justify spending a little of that on fishing. Let me tell you, the power auger is nice. If you only drill five holes a day, then a hand auger is great, but if you drill more, you've got to go power. I'm a healthy and very fit 27 year old, and I like a good work out, but drilling those holes by hand gets tough in the late season(just when the fishing gets real good).

As far as the size of the hole...might as well go with the six inch. They are much easier and faster to drill then an eight inch hole. I pulled up the biggest Northern of my life three weeks ago and it would have fit through a six inch hole. 43" and 17.6lbs. I pulled it up through my power augers eight inch hole, but I'm pretty sure it would have fit through a six inch hole. Not 100% certain though. I'll measure the girth when I get it back this week. Yes, I kept it and had it mounted. Heh, it's the first one I've kept that was over three pounds. I C&R 99% of the time.

I like to fish like I work... smarter, not harder.

[Redlantern]

The hole that I was reopening was made from an eight or ten inch auger. The ice was around twentyfour inches every where else. Sorry about the confusion.