IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Equipment => Ice Augers => Topic started by: northernnyice on Nov 28, 2014, 12:19 PM
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I know this gets debated a lot, but has anyone actually stepped down from a 10" to an 8"?? Someone that targets large pike. I'm really looking at pulling the trigger on a new 8", I've always had 10". I know 8" is fine and has been the standard for many years, but with thick ice I can see it being a pain getting the head started on a big one.
So has anyone personally backed down from a 10" to an 8"?
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After the first year with the 10" Z51 I bought an 8". My wife stuck her foot in one of the 10". An 8" hole is going to pull one great big pike out of it.
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I am running a 10" Z51 right now. I pretty much just chase pike all winter.
I really wish the 9" would come back into production. It seems to be the perfect size for us Pike guys, while providing some safety for heavily traveled lakes.
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I am running a 10" Z51 right now. I pretty much just chase pike all winter.
I really wish the 9" would come back into production. It seems to be the perfect size for us Pike guys, while providing some safety for heavily traveled lakes.
You may find that the bit itself is 9 inches with 10 inch blades. You may be able to just change the blades to a smaller size.
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One thing I have done when targeting pike on waters known for large fish was to use a spud and flare the bottom of hole. I found that this allows me to get the head turned up a lot easier.
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I have never caught a fish too big for an 8" hole.
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I have never caught a fish too big for an 8" hole.
What's your biggest
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Big pike on tip-ups is the only situation where I prefer a 10" hole. Mathematically you can fit up to a 25" girth through an 8" hole so you're not going to catch a pike that won't fit through the hole, but there are other factors at play. It's no so much fitting them through the hole as it is getting them started without catching on the bottom, the 10" makes this a lot easier.
I've seen two instances where we had esox stuck on the bottom of an 8" hole, one pike and one musky, both low 40's fish that eventually came up the hole but took some finessing. The reason it happened is due to the fish's long snoot. They were both hooked in the back corner of the mouth and their face was too long that when the fish was pulled to start it up the hole, its nose got caught on the far side of the hole and the fish just laid there. You could pull all you want, but the fish wasn't coming up the hole.
Quick strike rigs are pretty awful for getting caught on the bottom of the ice, an 8" hole only makes this worse.
When fishing tip ups, an 8" holes freezes/slushes over quicker than a 10" hole will.
Cons to the 10" are pretty obvious... Weight, more time drilling a hole, wet boots, etc.
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I grew up fishing 10" holes...since I switched to 8" about 17 years ago, I've only had two times we had trouble with; a GIANT largemouth in thick ice that just wouldnt come through the hole, and a few huge catfish that would lock their gills open and out so they couldn't be pulled through, other than that no problem with pike up to 19lbs, lakers up to 18lbs... If I was reasonably expecting fish over 20lbs though, I would probably want to use a 10". the hardest part with landing big fish through the ice is always the last part; getting them up through the hole.
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for me I had a 8" then upsized to the 10" then last year went back to the 8" and now this year I took that one step lower yet and use a 6". I will only use the 8" now if I plan to fish northern which is only a couple times a winter and for channel catfish too.