Auger or hole size preference...

[Unclegillhunter]

Well till now 8” hand, gas, propane. End of last season picked up a mini Nero. 5”. Used it for the first time yesterday. Only caught on fish but it was a fat 12” crappie, 5” of ice came through the hole just fine. I fish for panfish so don’t need a 10” hole. I do have to say I may look at one of the 6” composite bits cause I don’t think I need a drill and clam plate for the Nero. All I can say if y’all a concerned that you may hook a fish that is too big to come through a 6” hole on a regular basis then why would you consider a 6” auger?
Keep it safe! JDL

[struckus]

I drill an 8" ..eskimo pistol bit was 8" on sale so grabbed it..my milwaukee will push it no problem so that's what I do..a 6" would be fine but i'm not going to spend more money for it lol

[Chris338378]

I prefer an eight inch hole because it doesn't freeze up as quickly as a smaller hole and there's very little chance of a fish not fitting through it.  The draw back to a smaller hole is if you don't get your transducer out there's less room to work the fish around the cable and less room for your hand to fit with the fish in the hole especially if you're pulling it out by the gills. 

[eyehi]

   X2 Snitch#8
 For Lake Ontario eyes and Lake trout 8” sure helps with those 10#+ fish ,
 I own 4.5”-8”

X3 ....  If I'm in a pike derby or after st Lawrence river walleye I prefer a 10" hole .... Live and learn ...

[kevs]

39 years of ice fishing and I went to an 8" auger two years past, much happier now. I've fished 4" thru 6" augers and found them to be a pain. 8" less fish getting off the hook at the hole. Not as much issue with hole icing as there is with smaller size holes.  Don't have to pull the transducer out of hole as often as do with smaller holes. If peop's worry about stepping into 8" holes they need to watch where they are walking, maybe quit smoking weed, doing chemicals or drinking alcohol while out on hardwater. I've caught more fish since going to an 8" than when I was using the smaller augers years past. Makes me wonder how these tales get started about light thru the ice and fish seeing people walking around.

[badger132]

To share a different point of view- I get fish coming off in the hole, that can not turn around, and they either swim up on to the ice on their own, or I reach in and scoop them out. If the hole were bigger, then could turn and go back down. 5 inch Lazer last 5 years.

[sunniewally]

I have the 8 ion 6 kdrill and a 8 orange drill. The drill part of it was junk so I put on the clam plate with a milwaukee drill and love it. Its relatively light, and cuts so much smoother and quicker then the 6 kdrill that I don't bother with it. The ion is nice , cuts good but it is heavy compared to the nils and drill. My shoulder and hands and wrists are shot so that is why I like the nils setup. At my age I don't drill a lot of holes like I use to. Just like to fish the best I can.

[RyanW]

To share a different point of view- I get fish coming off in the hole, that can not turn around, and they either swim up on to the ice on their own, or I reach in and scope them out. If the hole were bigger, then could turn and go back down. 5 inch Lazer last 5 years.

I release 98% of the fish I catch so I would just consider that an easy release lol. 

[Doeslayer]

I almost always fish out if a shack and most of the lakes i fish are clean and clear so a nice big hole helps with sightfishing....

[bigfoot86]

Got a chance to fish out of a 6" hole for the first time a couple weeks ago after fishing out of an 8" hole my entire life.  Used my new nils 6" orange auger, awesome tool.  Extremely satisfied and amazed at the speed at which it cuts with little effort drilling by hand.  At first I felt a little robbed of the real estate I had after using an 8 inch hole this whole time but then quickly got use to the smaller hole.  Had no problems pulling fish through the hole though I primarily fish for panfish.  Definitely will never get rid of my 8" augers.

[9huskies]

When my 8" Jiffy died I bought  6" Nils that I used for 1-1/2 seasons. It was fine for jigging if I drilled a second hole for the transducer. When using tip-ups the reel would hit the sides of the hole causing a lot of fish to drop the bait. Now I have an 8" Strikemaster 40 volt. I don't see myself going back to a 6" hole. Tomorrow I'm fishing with someone who has an 8" Nils hand auger. I am looking forward to trying it on 2 feet of ice.

[Akhardwater]

Where I fish you have to have have a ten inch.  I’ve heard plenty of disappointing story’s about guys and there 8 inch augers.  I’ve also caught fish that would have been lost if I hadn’t cut a larger hole.  If they made a 12 inch auger I would buy it in a heart beat.

[badger132]

Got a chance to fish out of a 6" hole for the first time a couple weeks ago after fishing out of an 8" hole my entire life.  Used my new nils 6" orange auger, awesome tool.  Extremely satisfied and amazed at the speed at which it cuts with little effort drilling by hand.  At first I felt a little robbed of the real estate I had after using an 8 inch hole this whole time but then quickly got use to the smaller hole.  Had no problems pulling fish through the hole though I primarily fish for panfish.  Definitely will never get rid of my 8" augers.

Fish a 4 inch hole for a season, 6 inch will seem fine!

[missoulaicebeerdog]

I can't count how many times i've stepped in my 10" holes.  That said, I love my 10"!  Big pike and lakers, almost essential.  I also use it to cut my large spearing holes. Obviously not essential for perch, but staring at a 6" hole looks funny to me now.  I'll keep stepping in my holes i guess.  It really adds a bit of excitement to the slow days.

[bigfoot86]

For the exception of targeting 10lb walleye and lakers, 8" is more than enough.  Like I said it depends what your targeting...for panfish 6 or 8" is plenty.

[Light liner]

You know what they say about a guy with a big auger.

[choo choo]

8 inch power auger,..... wish I would have got a 10 ". Not because of the size of the  fish I catch, it is because of my jigging style.
Jigging to me is not just up and down...I like to slide horizontally from 1 side of the hole to the other too sometimes, especially if I know which way the fish is facing , or which direction it is coming from.

6" hand auger for 6" or less ice.

[FreshwaterPhil]

Personally, I enjoy hand drilling for most of my outings. I have both a 6 inch Fin bore, and 8 inch Nils. Can't beat the Fin bore if ice is less than 16-18 inches. Once thicker, the Nils seems to do better as the auger fins go up higher, Fin bore tends to start bogging down in thick ice. Keeps me in good shape though, I've hand drilled roughly 500 holes so far this season, and we're only halfway through. Not bad for my mid 40's.

As we are allowed up to 10 lines in my region of Quebec, my son and I use a 10 inch gas Jiffy to drill and set tips ups with dead bait (live bait forbidden here), pretty much the only species I use tip ups for, everything else is jigged with help of a flasher. Old Tecumseh on that one, good power, reliable, but b***h hauling the old clunker around alone.

Just for contrast, here is the difference between a 6 and 10 inch hole with a keeper sized pike.

[Doeslayer]

10 lines? Crazy we get 3... But we get live bait... Does that mean no wax worms or just no live minnows

[FreshwaterPhil]

10 lines? Crazy we get 3... But we get live bait... Does that mean no wax worms or just no live minnows

It means no live bait fish. Outside winter, no dead baitfish or even parts of dead baits fish permitted either. Worms and leeches are fine.
10 lines in some zones, 5 in other zones, again, winter only. Redular season limited to only 1 line per person.

[jethro]

I have both an 8" and 6" K-drill on a Milwaukee Fuel, the 6" usually stays on a Milwaukee Mud Mixer. I am finding myself preferring the 6" over the 8", it's quick and light and easy to carry, I like the size inside the flip over better than the 8, I drill 4 holes in the flip and it seems there is nothing I will catch that I'll have trouble getting through the hole. If we ever get more than a foot of ice in NH again I might move back to the 8, but it doesn't seem like that is in the cards for us anymore.

[struckus]

6" seemed like it would be fine for me and 8" seemed excessive for the fish I catch but I liked the bigger hole..well I was sure glad to have it Monday when I pulled this fatty out of the ice..lol biggest fish i've ever caught..probably would have squeezed through a 6" if I was good but i'm not and was alone..so much easier..

[quickshake]

Lol, if we had lakes that produced walleye that size around our area I could totally see wanting a bigger ice auger...but we don't.  If you were where I lived the only fish that you might have trouble getting through a hole too small would probably be a musky or striped bass and I don't intentionally fish for either one.  We live in a state that doesn't care much about managing fish other than stocking trout so that means walleye are few and far between.  Remember, where I live we get borderline winters and the lakes that do have walleye in them around us don't freeze over much and if they did good luck try to catch one.

Where I normally fish, which is within 50 miles of the Lehigh valley it's common to get 1 or 2 walleye's a day jigging with a medium minnow. I use tip ups with large minnows and downsized this year to a 8" form the 10". I haven't hooked anything over 5 lbs this year yet but I think the 8" will be fine. When I finally hook into a 10lber I may regret it.   Was hitting some nice 14-15" Calico and Bass the other day with tip ups and large minnows.

[bigfoot86]

Where I normally fish, which is within 50 miles of the Lehigh valley it's common to get 1 or 2 walleye's a day jigging with a medium minnow. I use tip ups with large minnows and downsized this year to a 8" form the 10". I haven't hooked anything over 5 lbs this year yet but I think the 8" will be fine. When I finally hook into a 10lber I may regret it.   Was hitting some nice 14-15" Calico and Bass the other day with tip ups and large minnows.

Nice catch quickshake!  I'd like to tag along with you sometime, never caught a walleye in PA through the ice, other states yes but not around here.  Of course I don't use minnows much and am not a big tip up guy.  Usually fish the same 2 or 3 small jigs I like to use with waxies on them, not i high percentage walleye setup but have caught them like that by accident...in other states of course.  The closet lake to me besides Beltzville, which rarely freezes over anymore, is Tuscarora which never had safe ice this year.  Just not a great walleye state.

Oh and btw, the 8" will be more than fine....unless you hook into a massive striper, then it might be an issue.

[Fry Flier]

I have owned many augers and the range goes from 4" - 10" they all have a purpose and the best one for me is my 8 inch Finn bore that has been converted to a powered drill with a Dewalt Drill system and had the shaft lengthened 12 " (welded) to me this is heaven. It replaces only because of weight my Strikemaster Electra 1200 which I believe is 7.5 inches and 11 years old still works like new. My best answer is if it works for you then it is the right one.

[smokey66]

I use a 7 inch lazer and it works perfectly for me.

[Seamonkey84]

I use a 7 inch lazer and it works perfectly for me.

Yep, perfect middle ground.

[dntbeamenace4031]

As usual, I know what works for me, but don't prescribe that for anyone else.  There are good reasons why augers come in many sizes.

Someone buy Steve a beer, that quote applies to life in general and we should all live by it.

It all depends on where you fish, I too am a horader of augers (many gifted or bought used).  Early ice/high elevation I've never had an issue with the 5in nils and she cuts like butter.  Mid season it's an 8-inch Lazer + the Milwaukee Fuel Drill.  But a few times a year looking for monster lake trout I'll break out the 10-in power auger.  Have you ever fought a 25lb fish for 30 minutes only to realize his head won't fit through the hole - if you had it would be the last time you fish for Laker's sans 10-in auger   

[raffi]

I have a 6,8 and 10 inch auger and decided what one i use based on the type, temperature and species I'm targeting. But most days it ends up an 8

[Light liner]

I have a 6,8 and 10 inch auger and decided what one i use based on the type, temperature and species I'm targeting. But most days it ends up an 8

Same here.