5 inch Lazer enough or will i need a bigger hole?

[smatt]

Hello,

Looking for opinions...  Sorry if this is a repeat subject.

The few times I've ice fished in the past it has been with buddies with an 8 inch electric auger.
This year I plan to get out more often on my own rather than wait for our schedules to match up.
I have a 5" lazer hand auger that I bought on sale and have not tried yet (they were out of the 6").

I see some people on here like to use the smaller augers.
I have other people telling me I'm going to loose fish because that hole is too small...
I mainly intend to go for bluegills/crappies, and I did just pick up a Marcum LX-3tc for a "too good to pass up" price of $249 at fleet farm, so I either need to fit that in the hole or drill a extra hole for that.

SO anyway,
Getting to the point, should I stick with my 5 inch auger, with the intent that I'll be getting a 8inch power in a couple years, or try selling it on craigslist and buying a 6inch hand auger for now...
Am I going to loose fish?  Is the 5in going to be noticable faster than the 6in
Sorry for my lack of knowledge and silly questions...
I'm just anxious for some ice


smatt

[TravP]

A 5" hole is kinda small when your transducers in the hole too. If your only going after gills and crappies you should be able to make it work though.

[mud_n_fun]

A 5" will be fine. As soon as you set the hook and the fish is fighting you remove the transducer from the hole. You won't loose fish like you think. The 8" holes are for pike and walleye. You'll be fine. If you use a float type transduer set the depth just below the ice not a foot under it.

[Melbs7]

Yeah... a 5" will be fine for panfish. like was said earlier, remove the transducer as soon as you set the hook. Even with bigger fish.... just take ur time as they come up to the hole... it will take several passes, but they will eventually turn thier head and come up the hole. The small panfish won't be an issue at all though. And a side benifit to the 5"........ it'll be easier to hand crank!!! LOL Good Luck!!

[Ekruger01]

i have every size mora they make and i can say yes the 5 inch will tear through any amount of ice faster, we fish in an otter and do three five inch holes straight out from each of us and just stick the ducer in the middle one you can see whats going on in both holes!
EK

[smatt]

Thanks for the comments!  much appreciated...

Sounds like I should stick with what I have, I didn't know how much a 6 would help over a 5, and I don't think I want to go up to a 8inch hand cranker.

I'm thinking when I go myself I'll just jig for panfish, when I go with my friends (and thier augers) I can try tip ups.

[Melbs7]

Smatt....... I see that ur from WI too. I go to MWT.net sometimes and have found some awesome deals on power augers there...... I found one for my buddy last year for an 8" Eskimo 2 HP for like $125. It was an especially good deal since he paid for it and I get to use it whenever I want!! LOL I will be looking for something similar soon though..... the deals are there... just gotta watch for them!!

[browning13]

I fish a 5" hole all the time for panfish. It drills faster which allows me to make a lot more holes to chase the fish around with the flasher. The transducer can get in the way on occasion but then again it always seems to get in the way with a nice fish no matter how big the hole, haha. I do bring out the 10" power auger when I plan to fish something bigger like pike or walleye but I think 5" is a great choice for panfish. just my $.02