Had my own "D'OH" moment this past weekend.

[fishermantim]

Was fishing up in NH and after hand-drilling my second hole with a 6" auger, I was pulling up to help clear any edges left in the hole when the wing-nut that connected the handle with the auger head snapped on both sides of the handle.

Needless to say I was left holding the handle as I watched the auger head drop down the hole to a watery 20" grave.

I realized that the wear and tear of consistent use over the years caused the failure.

I will be looking to replace it, as I like the ease of use and transport of that size auger. (luckily they aren't too expensive.)

[OldSailor]

Replace with a grade 8 bolt and locknut!! 

[havejigwilltravel]

carry a magnet on a rope, i do now. since i lost my spud at Lake Lonely.

[RuttNutt]

I saw this at Dick’s Sporting Goods and thought it could be helpful in the future............




I made sure it was strong enough to pick up my phone in it’s waterproof case.

[rdhammah]

20" isn't that deep. It should have stuck out of the hole! (I couldn't resist. Sorry)

[chapru]

We’ve all been there.
I broke my rule of moving away from the holes before using the cellphone. Lazy me, sitting on my bucket, slipped out my hand, slid down my bibs, one bounce off the ice and straight into the hole. One in a hundred shot.
  My AH buddies knew it was on silent/vibrate, so the they kept calling it to see if it would bubble as they called and then left vile messages.
   The insulting part was explaining to the cellphone insurance person, “Ralph” from parts unknown, that I lost it . The concept was lost on him because I told him I knew exactly where it was; 17’ of water at the bottom of the Pack. He kept asking me why I just didn’t retrieve it. Finally told him that,”the IPhone 7 sleeps with the fishes.” He eventually got it.

[slipperybob]

Congratulations! 

Nah, that's some bad luck and it happens to all of us at one point in time or another.

[Old Goat]

  I had one this year too a first ever. I fell off my bucket

[Sam Gee]

A buddy of mine put my wing nut on my 5" Mora on backwards so now it sits on the bottom of Lake Wickaboag.

[badbrad2186]

Lost my 8 inch Lazer off the end of the drill 2 years ago ended up buying a Nordic legend 8 inch and attached it to a clam plate

[kmu70]

Chapru, the pack has a cell of mine also, plop right down the hole. what a feeling lol

[Ronnie D]

I trash the wing nuts  & use 2 self tapping  sheet metal screws through  the auger collar. If you've  ever got a hoodie string wrapped  around one of those knobs at full r.p.m., you'll  know the reason.

[RuttNutt]

We’ve all been there.
I broke my rule of moving away from the holes before using the cellphone. Lazy me, sitting on my bucket, slipped out my hand, slid down my bibs, one bounce off the ice and straight into the hole. One in a hundred shot.
  My AH buddies knew it was on silent/vibrate, so the they kept calling it to see if it would bubble as they called and then left vile messages.
   The insulting part was explaining to the cellphone insurance person, “Ralph” from parts unknown, that I lost it . The concept was lost on him because I told him I knew exactly where it was; 17’ of water at the bottom of the Pack. He kept asking me why I just didn’t retrieve it. Finally told him that,”the IPhone 7 sleeps with the fishes.” He eventually got it.

Believe it or not, in 25+ years of ice fishing I have never dropped anything of value down the hole. But I figure as much as I ice-fish it is only a matter of time.  . That’s why I bought the magnet when I saw it at Dick’s.

Now I’m thinking maybe I should advertise............. ....$25 for a successful retrieval of cell phone, spud or auger! 😜

[Neil McCauley]

Had same thing happen a few years ago and can still see the blaze orange 15 ft down when I fish open water. Locktite those wingnuts, who honestly ever separates the two pieces anyways?

[chapru]

My 35 year old 8” Mora has a hinge on it so it folds in half. The wing nut just keeps it straight. My new 6” Mora just has the wing nut. Everything’s made cheaper

[fishermantim]

So here's a real "science-related" question for anyone that's tried to retrieve their lost auger:

How far from the drop point (hole) would an 8" auger travel while it descends thru 20' of water?

I'm sure that since it is just a big cork screw that falling thru water would make it begin to spin, so would that cause it to drift far from the initial hole?

I'm asking because I lost my auger head last weekend in 20' of water. I went out and picked up a magnet fishing kit with a hockey puck sized magnet rated for 425 lb. of pulling power. I went back to the same spot this weekend and cut a combined total of over 30 holes with my 8" auger to a distance of roughly 10' from the initial hole.

No luck, so that's why I'm asking this question.

[RuttNutt]

So here's a real "science-related" question for anyone that's tried to retrieve their lost auger:

How far from the drop point (hole) would an 8" auger travel while it descends thru 20' of water?

I'm sure that since it is just a big cork screw that falling thru water would make it begin to spin, so would that cause it to drift far from the initial hole?

I'm asking because I lost my auger head last weekend in 20' of water. I went out and picked up a magnet fishing kit with a hockey puck sized magnet rated for 425 lb. of pulling power. I went back to the same spot this weekend and cut a combined total of over 30 holes with my 8" auger to a distance of roughly 10' from the initial hole.

No luck, so that's why I'm asking this question.

I doubt that 425 lb magnet has enough strength to pick up your 8”
Auger. 425 lbs SOUNDS like a lot, but it didn’t have enough strength to pick up my cellphone in its waterproof case. And an auger doesn’t really have a flat spot for the magnet to attach onto...............you’d probably be better off trying to snag it with a big treble hook!

[snow snake]

 Yup! I lost an 8" off my clam drill plate.
   replaced it with a new drill bit.
   put a stainless bolt through, hole on new auger.
  and fasten with a stop nut. 
   

[maddogg]

You need one of these.

[OldSailor]

Or as I stated earlier, a correct size grade 8 bolt and a nylock nut!!!

[slipperybob]

So here's a real "science-related" question for anyone that's tried to retrieve their lost auger:

How far from the drop point (hole) would an 8" auger travel while it descends thru 20' of water?

I'm sure that since it is just a big cork screw that falling thru water would make it begin to spin, so would that cause it to drift far from the initial hole?

I'm asking because I lost my auger head last weekend in 20' of water. I went out and picked up a magnet fishing kit with a hockey puck sized magnet rated for 425 lb. of pulling power. I went back to the same spot this weekend and cut a combined total of over 30 holes with my 8" auger to a distance of roughly 10' from the initial hole.

No luck, so that's why I'm asking this question.

big rapala jigging rap. When you snag into auger. Then use line guide retrieval with maybe 100# magnet.  Then make sure to drill big hole to retrieve auger

[fishermantim]

The problem is that I drilled over 30 holes ranging  up to 10 feet in each direction from the initial; hole with no contact.
As for contact point, the flute of the auger spiral would be a good "sticking point".

I was curious if anyone had an idea of how far the auger could have drifted in 20 FOW.
I figured that since it dropped initially straight down, the blade would have caused it to spin like a corkscrew/propeller.

If conditions are stable enough I might try again, only expanding the range a bit more.

But it still craps out, I've got a tool for a new "hobby" of Magnet Fishing....

[fishermantim]

SUCCESS!!

As fate would have it, I found it next to the hole that it fell down.
Using the magnet, I found the auger head and the wing nut as well.

Oh, and I got to do a little fishing as well!