5" or 6" hand auger? What to buy?

[keithdterry]

I am looking at the Strikemaster Lazer 5" and 6" hand augers.  90% of the time I will be jigging for panfish but occasionally drop in some tip ups for gamefish.  I have an 8" hand auger, but it seems like a lot of work and overkill for punching 8" holes to catch a few bluegills.  Based on your experience, what would you buy, 5" or 6"?

Edit: 1/22/07  Thanks to all who responded.  I bought a 6" Lazer and got to use it on Saturday.  It works awesome!  Thanks again.

[Little Brown Dog]

6 inch works great for me.  Brought up an 11 pound pike with no problems.  Cuts easy with good blades.

[Van_Cleaver]

I own a Lazer 6'' and it is great for all panfish; plus you can pull medium- large bass through if you need. It cuts great, but we don't often get really thick ice, either. One winter I was cutting 20'' plus, which is a real workout if you tend to be mobile. A 5'' will cut easier, but if you fish for big crappie, or even bull gills you might wish you had a little breathing room. You also have to consider your holes will ice up from the outside in, also reducing your margin for error. You can drag a fairly large fish through a hole that is slightly undersized, if (here's the rub) it is well hooked. It comes down to what works best for you. If you are catching perch and small to medium gills; say, up to 7'', a 5'' hole would probably suffice. If there are any number of big gills, or crappie you will be happier with the 6, IMO.

[empty hook]

I am looking at the Strikemaster Lazer 5" and 6" hand augers.  90% of the time I will be jigging for panfish but occasionally drop in some tip ups for gamefish.  I have an 8" hand auger, but it seems like a lot of work and overkill for punching 8" holes to catch a few bluegills.  Based on your experience, what would you buy, 5" or 6"?

  I have a 5" Lazer and love it. I have brought up 28" pike through the hole, but think you would have trouble with a big speck or11" gill. Hole does freeze  out side in but has never been a problem unless hole has been unused for some time.  I'm also a older man and don't want to make to much work out of hole making.

[snot rocket]

I've got an 8 inch mora hand auger and my dad has a 6 inch mora...it's amazing how much more ice you displace with the 8'' alot more effort goes into an 8'' hole.i also have a 4'' mora...thats like cutting through butter with a hot knife but you would have some difficulty puling some bigger crappie or perch through a 4''.i use that mainly for the kids, follow the dink perch and keep the kids happy. I would say overall the 6'' is a great all round auger. my father has pulled a few decent pike thru an 6'' hole.

                                                  Snot Rocket

[dkfry]

I have a 5" Lazer and 6" Mora. Love the 5", one day I drilled about 60 holes through 9-10" of ice and could barely feel it in my arms. My 5" lazer turns about 10 times easier than the 6" mora but the mora cuts more ice per turn. I always carry a shorter spud bar I made so if the 5" is too small for the fish it can be enlarged to get the fish through.

[WalkOnWater]

I received the Strikemaster Lazer 6" for Christmas. It cuts very fast with little effort.

[bigbucky1]

I love my 6" lazer.  Here we rarely get more than 12" of ice so that is all I use and wouldn't trade it for anything hand powered.

[Quack_Attack]

Use a 5" Laser most of the time works just fine for panfish have pulled 9"+ gills and 12"+ crappies through 'em, there hasn't been enough ice around here the last few years to warrant lugging the power auger around so I purchased a 8" Laser for those times when I want a little bigger hole and don't want ta lug the power auger out.

Have a 4" Mora that I haven't used since I got the 5" Laser a few years ago, sometimes the 4" was a tight sqeeze with bigger pannies, once had a jalopy perch halfway up the 4" hole and the hook pulled lose, well he was just kinda stuck there while I rolled up my sleeve ta reach in and get him.

The 4" Mora and the 5" Laser are definitely easier to go through the ice with. I had a 6" Mora and it would work ya to death if the ice was over 10".