Bought a 4-1/2" diameter auger - need a 4-1/2" scoop - FOUND ONE!

[Huntyeraws]

I bought a 4-1/2" Fin Bore III last winter that I will use for searching for perch when the ice gets thick.  I noticed that trying to find such a small diameter ice scoop is a tough thing to do as most commercial made ones are about 6" in diameter or larger.  A little searching on eBay and I cam across this 4-1/2" diameter stainless steel cooking skimmer for less than $6 delivered.  I plan on zip tying a piece of foam to the handle in case it slips out of my hand so that it floats in the hole.   

[Icepuppy]

Looks like it'd work. Maybe heat the end up with a torch and increase the angle to make it more of a ladle like shape like most scoops. That might make it less likely that the ice slush will fall off when trying to pull the skimmer out of the hole.

[Kevin23]

Should work just fine. I wouldn't worry about the foam, if you drop it in a 4" hole its going to go down under the ice before it pops back up.. the odds of it coming straight back up a 4.5" hole isn't great enough for me to use an uncomfortable scooper with a bunch of foam on it.

Or you could just push the auger down in the hole and then pull it straight up hard and fast (with BOTH hands on the auger or the handle will nutt check ya). Can't remember the last time I have used a scooper after figuring out that trick. With the power auger I just pull it up with the engine rev'd up and it clears all the chips. 

[Huntyeraws]

I don't plan on attaching foam to the handle itself but via tanglefree decoy cord to the float.  If it goes down the hole the float will stop it.  I can live with that.

[corny13]

Deep freeze makes custom skimmers to any size you want.  I have a 8" that is my favorite of all skimmers ive ever had.