Auger or hole size preference...

[bigfoot86]

So I'm looking into purchasing another auger to add to my collection.  I have a 8" strikermaster lazer hand auger and an 8" Eskimo P1 propane.  Was looking at the new strikemaster lite flite which does look really light and also look at a nils just because I always wanted one.  Obviously to be used with a power drill.

I also always wanted to try a smaller size auger like a 6" but don't know if that's really any advantage over an 8" hole.  Only upside I could see with a 6" auger is it is lighter?   What are people's thought on the six inch hole?

[slipperybob]

I too always had wanted to get a smaller one too  a 6" one.

smaller hole also means less likely for things to fall down them too.

I'm sure it will drill easier as well.

[winterbuddy]

Only upside I could see with a 6" auger is it is lighter?   What are people's thought on the six inch hole?

For many nicer sized fish, once in a 6" hole, they can't turn if they happen to spit the hook, basically forced to swim up. Also, it is generally easier drilling.   

[hardwater diehard]

If I was to go new ... smaller...lighter... and composite...I would chose Mora style blades ..Eskimo pistol bit or HT E-Drill ..or the K-Drill if you tend to encounter dirty ice frequently
 

[badger132]

I would have to confess to being an auger junky. I have 6 hanging in the barn, and can't stop thinking about a 6 inch pistol bit...

I used to drill by hand, and bought a 6 inch eskimo which I used for a couple of years. Pulled up to a 32 inch laker through that, with some difficulty, but I drill a lot of holes, and it was wearing me out. so I looked for the smallest- fished a lot with a 4 inch I got from my dad- that was great for drilling a lot of holes, but I got several large perch stuck half way up, and broke off.

I bought a 4.5 inch Nils, which drilled easier than a 4 inch traditional style, and bought another as a spare in case it got dull. Nils has the most cutting for given torque- even a 6 inch is quite easy to use by hand. My only issue was fitting the flasher and the line down the hole.

Got a cordless drill adapter and a half inch drill- now I could drill as many holes as I wanted- so I splurged and bought a 5 inch Lazer- shorter and more handy than Nils, and plenty of room for any perch and trout I have caught on Lake Cascade. I have taken to drilling a separate hole just for the sonar. The Lazer cuts almost as well as the Nils, and has been my setup for 3 years- until the ice gets too thick, then I use the nils, which is 8 inches longer.

I have an old 10 inch Jiffy gas that only comes out on the rare occasion I fish lakers, and even then only because of nostalgia.

I drill a lot of holes looking for perch, so I want the smallest hole I can get them through reliably. It uses the least power (battery or armstrong) and as you said, leaves the least hazard for others to step in. The only other reason to go bigger is if you fish in extreme cold and the hole freezes in from the sides. The amount of ice you convert to chips goes up as the square of the diameter, so all else equal an 8 inch is 64/36 (1.78) as much as a 6 inch. Nils is the most efficient cutting head I have used, so that is a consideration. I also second the post below about fish sticking in a smaller hole. It can be a trick to turn them into the smaller hole, but once in there, they can't turn if they break off or spit the hook at the hole. I can think or 2 fish this year that shot out of the hole after spitting the hook.

[bobberbill]

I've never caught a fish that I couldn't get thru a 6" hole. Muskie on tip-ups I use an 8". 10" holes should be outlawed.

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

A 6 inch hole is, in my opinion, the most favorable size when everything is taken into consideration. I have taken my PB pike and crappie through a 6 inch hole ( 35" and 17" respectively ) even though I also have an 8 inch auger that I use for pike rigs. I have never pulled in a fish that would not fit through a 6 inch hole in 32 years of ice fishing.

The amount of ice that needs to be removed to make an 8 inch hole is 1.78 times as much as for a 6 inch hole, so almost double the effort for your muscles, battery etc. I do like starting with 8 inch holes on extremely cold days when the holes are refreezing, since the top of the hole turns into a much smaller diameter during the day, but I don't fish much anymore if the temps. are that brutal anyway. Unless you are targeting true monster fish and know that there is a chance of getting one where you fish, or want to keep a descent sized hole open in very cold weather, there is not much reason to use an auger greater than 6 inches.

[bigfoot86]

Alright, you guys are about to make me buy one online today because they're on sale at fishusa.  Never thought about a smaller hole kinda trapping the fish from turning back down the hole in case where the fish came off the hook.  Hmm...now which one to get, strikemaster which is the lightest option or that nils orange one that you can convert from hand to a power drill.  Guess it's the same as the blue one nils sells?!?

[OldSailor]

The one comment I will always remember about a 10" hole is that it will give your boot back!!

[wlatrout]

I fished a 4" hole for a number of years, but the small lake I was fishing gave up 10" gills on occasion so I went to a 5" spoon which I still use until the ice gets beyond 12-14". Then I have an battery opp. 7". Use 7" for trout.

[VTLakers]

Hey everyone,

New to the page, been reading a lot on here and finally decided to make an account. All I can say is there hasn't been a fish I haven't been able to get through a 10 inch hole.

[Seamonkey84]

I mainly use my 7” lazer hand auger with my drill. Last year I got a 8” for when I go after lake trout or pike.

[RyanW]

A 6 inch hole is, in my opinion, the most favorable size when everything is taken into consideration. I have taken my PB pike and crappie through a 6 inch hole ( 35" and 17" respectively ) even though I also have an 8 inch auger that I use for pike rigs. I have never pulled in a fish that would not fit through a 6 inch hole in 32 years of ice fishing.

The amount of ice that needs to be removed to make an 8 inch hole is 1.78 times as much as for a 6 inch hole, so almost double the effort for your muscles, battery etc. I do like starting with 8 inch holes on extremely cold days when the holes are refreezing, since the top of the hole turns into a much smaller diameter during the day, but I don't fish much anymore if the temps. are that brutal anyway. Unless you are targeting true monster fish and know that there is a chance of getting one where you fish, or want to keep a descent sized hole open in very cold weather, there is not much reason to use an auger greater than 6 inches.

This^^^^

I’ll add that I use an 8” auger purely for the real estate comfort. I like an 8” hole so I fish an 8” hole.

[Sylvanboat]

I have a 6" Ion. For the fish I normally catch, 6" is fine. Also I fish from a flipover and the smaller holes minimize chance of catastrophies.  Finally smaller holes leave more room for my flasher, camera, heater, cooler, bait bucket etc etc etc

[dekatronic]

6" for hole hopping or fishing with sonar
8" (or larger) for sight fishing

[Doeslayer]

I pup 3 holes like a triangle with my 8 inch jiffy... I like to see... I just mark my holes when im done with a branch

[capt.crappie]

I have a 5" hand augar. It has its pro's & con's. On cold windy days it freezes closed faster & you need a smaller skimer to clean it out. When using my vex I will drill 2 side by side 1 for my vex & 1 to jig out of.  My gas augar is 8" which I use once we get 8" of ice. Its nice for using my vex. & I dont have to pull it out when I catch a fish. I wish I had bought a 6" gas

[DR.SPECKLER]

My drill turns a 8” easily so thats what i use.i see no reason to go smaller even tho i have a fleet of augers from 4” up to 10”.

[SkiSoloII]

I have a 5" Lazer with a Clam plate. 3 holes in a single-man shanty. 2 for lines, one for sonar. A beautiful fit!  That being said, assuming we ever get reasonable ice in southern Michigan (Saginaw Bay), I am trying out a 7", just in case I get a walleye that won't fit a 5". Hasn't happened yet with the 5": bluegill, crappie, perch, bass, walleye, even the pike I've caught through the ice. If I were to find a big cat or a bigger pike, I'd probably break off anyway. Once in a while I have an issue getting a walleye to turn it's head into the hole, though I've managed.

Oh, the holes are quicker and easier to drill - though with the thickness of the ice we have here lately, it doesn't matter much.

Dave

[FG Steve]

I used a 6-inch auger for many years before moving up to 8-inch.  The 6 was a hand auger and my 8's have been power augers.

I've never caught a fish that I couldn't get thru a 6" hole.

'Can' and 'want-to' are two different things.

This fish last month touched both sides of the 8-inch hole on the way out.  Not going back to 6-inch.

For many nicer sized fish, once in a 6" hole, they can't turn if they happen to spit the hook.

Depends on what a nicer-sized fish is.

Most of the time, I end up fishing on ice that is less thick than the fish are long, in which case they can back out rather well, even without spitting the hook.  The nose of the fish above touched air three times before I got it out on the fourth.

10" can be toooooo big sometimes.

10" holes should be outlawed.

No 10-inch for me.  Grandkids can fit through that!

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.

[Doeslayer]

I have a 5" Lazer with a Clam plate. 3 holes in a single-man shanty. 2 for lines, one for sonar. A beautiful fit!  That being said, assuming we ever get reasonable ice in southern Michigan (Saginaw Bay), I am trying out a 7", just in case I get a walleye that won't fit a 5". Hasn't happened yet with the 5": bluegill, crappie, perch, bass, walleye, even the pike I've caught through the ice. If I were to find a big cat or a bigger pike, I'd probably break off anyway. Once in a while I have an issue getting a walleye to turn it's head into the hole, though I've managed.

Oh, the holes are quicker and easier to drill - though with the thickness of the ice we have here lately, it doesn't matter much.

Dave

Fishing the saginaw river i have fish hit the side of the hole on the way up... If the do they are gone.... A big ol hole sure helps that

[bigfoot86]

Well I just ended up purchasing the nils 6" convertible hand/power drill to add to my collection on sale for 144.95.  Already have the strikemaster lazer 8" hand auger and the 8" Eskimo p1 propane auger, figure I try a smaller hole size.  Hope I like it.

[TickleStick]

I like a 8" myself.

[Luckydog]

I have a dual cone Vex 18 transducer that is quite large.  With a 6" or smaller hole I absolutely would have to remove it to retrieve every fish caught.  With my 7" lazer auger I can usually get the gills out of the hole without removing the transducer.  Obviously the transducer gets pulled for larger fish.  Things should be even easier with my new 8" Lite Flite.

[Super-ice-bird]

I’ve used all size of augers, it depends on the size of fish you intend to catch. I find that 8” or 9” are all around the best. I’ve caught fish that would not fit through a 6” hole and 10” hole my tip ups fall through.

[bigfoot86]

Yea I think a 10" inch hole is overkill in most situations.  I've only fished with 8" since I've started ice fishing but don't think 6" will give me any problems with most the lakes I fish.  Plus I'm not a tipup guy.

[backwoodswalker]

I use a 5" strikemaster lazer with clam plate for 99% of my fishing. Never had a fish that did not fit through. Alot of pike and eyes have made it. I thought it would be too small too. But time has proven it's enough. When my youngest son was 12, we were running tip ups for pike. We got a flag and he ran over to hole. Stepped in what must have been a 10" hole. Went in up to his knee. Broke his ankle and hurt his knee. Fishing was done for us. Trip to e.r.  use whatever size hole you feel comfortable with. But remember kids and women have small feet.  Mark your holes when you leave.  I use balsam branch to mark mine. My son healed up and fishes and hunts yet. So all turned out o.k.  steve

[bigfoot86]

Overkill?  I have said it before and I'll say it again.  The first time "anyone" hooks a 10, 11, 12lb.+ walleye and tries to get it through a 6" hole, they'll wish the hole was bigger.  And, I bet they don't try it a second time!  Like they say, you "learn" from your mistakes.  There is a reason they make 10" augers and its not for pan fishing!  Just saying.

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.

[filetandrelease]

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

[AdirDONdack]

6" if tip ups stay home.  8" if they go.