6 or 8 inches auger?

[marsu]

I just bought a 6 inches hand ice auger but have not used it yet (I can return it if need be). The reason I chose 6 inches is because I have read that it takes that much more work to dig with a 8 inches hand auger. But I wonder what you guys have experienced with the pikes out there. I am going to fish mainly on Buffalo Pound Lake: is a 6 inches hole sufficient to bring up pike?

[Whytie]

you would have a hard time bring in a 20lber. a bigger holes helps to get them to turn their head up the hole.

[DaveW731]

I believe that in 90% of the cases it is.  I have iced an 8# pike thru a 6" hole with no problem.  Of course, the tradeoff is what happens if you DO hook into that once-in-a-lifetime fish?
My solution is to use my 8" if the ice is 6" or less.  I have no problem cutting enough holes for setting tipups or jigging if I am targeting pike, so I would prefer to not even think about the hole being big enough.  Once the ice gets past 6", I then switch to the 6" because it really is significantly less work.

[mpike2day]

Have pulled 10 pounders through 6 inch hole. Sometimes you will get your hook on the edge of the hole when using tipups. When im in my shanty i will drill another hole an inch away so i dont have to worry about tangles.

[poorfisherman]

The only thing you will run into is getting the head turned up the hole if you hook on in the corner of the mouth.  Buffalo has produced some large pike over the years for the most part I'd say the average caught(myself) is 5-8 lbs range.

We used a 6" for 20 years and pulled some big pike and burbot (when they were around) out.

[Team Top-It 2]

10" so you can put your hole foot in like a friend of mine.

[ianwuzhere]

unless your drilling lots of holes in a day- 10+ id recommend the 8". the extra two inches seems like a lot especially when you have a big fish head tryin to be lined up the hole.. if fishing very cold temps the holes can also freeze up makin that 8" like 7" 
-they do in canada anyhow hehe...

[Team Robinson]

I wouldnt go any smaller than 8" for Pike and I have a 8" hand auger that I used to use for this fishing. The 8" was a bear if there wasnt any snow (I am short) to stand on but if I had a solid 12" or more, it was a snap with sharp blades. Sharp blades are worth their weight in gold when you are setting 7 traps

[Saskbush]

It is a lot easier to use a 6" auger and worst case is you can tell a story that the fish was so big you couldn't' even get it up the hole.

[boss j]

i have both 6 and 8 inch. 6 is good for panfish but if your catching anything over a few pounds use the 8!

[fuzzy39]

I have both and an 8 inch Jiffy Power. I usually always opt for the 8 inch for pike and the 6 for everything else. With sharp blades the 8 inch is still a breeze through up to about 18 inches. After that, the ice shards on top get heavy on the auger and make it very difficult to turn. I have an extension for my hand augers and have dug through 4 feet on occasion. The key is to clean the shards out of the hole every foot or so... then it feels like you are digging 4 12inch holes;)  I certainly use the 6 inch for everything else. In fact, my power auger never left the garage last year. I fish mainly for trout so I prefer to keep the noise down. Your best bet would be to pick up a 6 inch now (and at least one extra set of blades), then pick up an 8 inch at the end of the season when the auger and blades are on for half price everywhere.

[jhepting]

Last winter was my first year ice fishing and i had a 8" hand auger and I raced two different people who had gas auger last winter and beat them both through two and half feed of ice.  The key was that i kept the blades sharp, and kept the blade cover on when not using it.  Plus by the end of the winter your arms are huge if you drill enough holes.

[walleyeslayer1978]

I have landed a 17 lb pike through a six inch hole.  for the most part I think you'll be ok.

[Broom Jockey]

Last winter was my first year ice fishing and i had a 8" hand auger and I raced two different people who had gas auger last winter and beat them both through two and half feed of ice.  The key was that i kept the blades sharp, and kept the blade cover on when not using it.  Plus by the end of the winter your arms are huge if you drill enough holes.

Did that too, however my buddy then punched another hole, and another, and another...  I learned my lesson and saved up and got myself a power auger. 
A 6 inch auger is great for perch, most walleye and trout.  For pike I'd go with the 8 inch.  In fact I still use my 8 inch hand auger for first ice and up to a foot.

[AngusMacHuge]

I ran the gamut from 6 inch hand auger, to 8 inch hand auger, to 8 inch power auger. In my years of ice fishing I have yet to catch a fish that didn't fit through a 6 inch hole, but that probably just says more about my abilities as an ice fisher than anything. The gas auger is nice, I can cut 50 holes if I want, but I doubt I catch any more fish that when I cut 5 by hand. I just spend more time walking between holes with my line out of the water...