Author Topic: thickest ice you've hand augered (Read 6270 times)

iced · « **on:** Dec 15, 2007, 03:06 AM »

Last March I was at Honeybee lake and the Ice was real thick. I got to the end of the hand Auger and I still had more to drill. wow I thought after all that I'm not going home so I took out the Ice scoop and started chipping out the edge of the hole so that I could turn the auger handle then I drilled a second hole the same way. The next week I barowed a power auger with an extension. When I got the auger out of the box for this year I saw that it has a handle that extends to 54 inches that means I hand augured two holes through about 56" of ice. any way whets the most ice that others have hand drilled. when it comes to fishing I will not be denied! Ask my wife she's tryed to danie me the chance several times she says thats why she wont buy me a power auger for Christmas she thinks that I'll stay home more

Pedey_13 · « **Reply #1 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 03:44 AM »

I know the felling last year I was augering about 56'' 58'' and the wife kept telling me it's not worth it lets just go home. 20 minutes latter wouldn't you know I was fishing and I fished all day long to when I get the chance to get out there I will not be denied I must fish.

pot-belly-perch · « **Reply #2 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 04:33 AM »

about 2 feet

fiddlehead322 · « **Reply #3 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 04:39 AM »

In the early stages of ice fishing I had a 10" hand auger. I got my jiffy after drilling a hole in 36" of ice only to find about 6" of water! I set a trap in that hole and watched it for 3 hours anyway! Was exhausted. 1 hole was enuff with that dinosaur!

travisj88 · « **Reply #4 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 04:48 AM »

Quote from: fiddlehead322 on Dec 15, 2007, 04:39 AM

In the early stages of ice fishing I had a 10" hand auger. I got my jiffy after drilling a hole in 36" of ice only to find about 6" of water! I set a trap in that hole and watched it for 3 hours anyway! Was exhausted. 1 hole was enuff with that dinosaur!

Call me a wimp but there is no way I would try the ice up here with a 10" hand auger. I love to icefish but that would probably make me useless for the day.
Travis

fiddlehead322 · « **Reply #5 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 05:08 AM »

Like I said, In the early stages of my icefishing days. I had no clue!

perch · « **Reply #6 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 05:47 AM »

18" up in Sydnum, Canada. Not a unbelievable amount of ice to work through, just seems alot worse when you have a powerauger keeping warm in your basement back in the states!!

prchslyr · « **Reply #7 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 06:32 AM »

I make sure my blades get sharpened b4 dec. Then i do it again early jan. I watched A looney uncle of mine drill 15 holes through 24" plus on champlain. With an 8". You don't complain about drilling holes when you fish with this dude. He lives for it. "Gas augers are for wimps. If you can't cut your own holes go back to bed.". Shhhhh. If I ain't fishin' wit him, I break out the strikemaster anything over 12".

Barleydog · « **Reply #8 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 11:51 AM »

A couple years ago I had two extentions on my Strikemaster auger and didn't reach water. $:-\$ COuldn't tell you how thick the ice was.

Fishin Fireman · « **Reply #9 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 12:58 PM »

Last March on Chena Lakes My great Uncle from Sacramento was up visiting (for 3 months) and I took him out ice fishing with my 10 inch auger I just bought.

I already had an 18" extension and the 10" says it's 42" long. We started drilling about 100 ft out from the boat launch and I thought I made it to the bottom because we had water. I stuck the fishfinder ducer in the hole and it only read a couple of feet. I thought that's weird, it should be over 20 here. Come to find out I didn't make it through the first time so I had to drill it out but I had to spud some of the ice around the edge to get the auger that low.

I figured it was around 60 inches because I was the only one getting through and I ended up drilling some holes for other people too.

icy mike · « **Reply #10 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 03:04 PM »

Quote from: Barleydog on Dec 15, 2007, 11:51 AM

A couple years ago I had two extentions on my Strikemaster auger and didn't reach water. $:-\$ COuldn't tell you how thick the ice was.

most likely you were about 3/4" short

Grizzly1 · « **Reply #11 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 04:27 PM »

I've hand augered holes in over 4' of ice on numerous occasions. I'm not "AS" concerned about ice thickness now that I've got a Jiffy 30 10"

Bugman1964 · « **Reply #12 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 04:40 PM »

About 36" with a 6" mora hand auger. I was a lot younger then.

KGrant · « **Reply #13 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 06:03 PM »

About a foot with my grandpas spoon auger. That was the last time I've used a hand auger, lol. I'm sure the new ones are much better.

icejunky · « **Reply #14 on:** Dec 15, 2007, 06:07 PM »

I just had to take a measurment of my hand auger and it looks like my thickest was 34" wich is as far as I can go with my hand auger...and it did not get through the ice either...we had driven 3 hours to fish this lake and ended up having to rent a hut as my auger would not break through

Salmonman · « **Reply #15 on:** Dec 16, 2007, 04:43 PM »

I drilled 12 holes in 45 inches of ice out in the valley last year with a 6 inch hand auger. It was all in one day with a brand new auger, I had to sharpen the blades the next time I went out. This year I am running a 8" jiffy power auger. It sure is sweet to take 15 seconds to drill a whole rather than ten minutes.

catchumall · « **Reply #16 on:** Dec 16, 2007, 09:13 PM »

I have gone up to the end of the shaft on my old Mora and had to use a spud to go the rest of the way but that was in my younger days now I have a 10" power auger that I don't leave home without. I started with an 8" but got tired of drilling Mickey Mouse holes on Harding Lake. speaking of Harding anyone catching any fish down that way?

CrappieBuster · « **Reply #17 on:** Dec 16, 2007, 09:18 PM »

27 Inches Hand augered here in northern Iowa. A "few" times

Rdrash · « **Reply #18 on:** Dec 18, 2007, 01:39 AM »

I can't resist.....Whats a hand auger? someone post up a pic so I know what to stay away from

icy mike · « **Reply #19 on:** Dec 18, 2007, 02:13 PM »

Quote from: Rdrash on Dec 18, 2007, 01:39 AM

I can't resist.....Whats a hand auger? someone post up a pic so I know what to stay away from

LOL!!!

akjw7 · « **Reply #20 on:** Dec 18, 2007, 03:26 PM »

not sure exactly but over three feet - like others have said I had to chip out the top of the hole to get clearance for the handle! Definitely not the way to go if you have any alternative!

swampbuckster · « **Reply #21 on:** Dec 18, 2007, 05:02 PM »

I've spudded through 26" in Anchor Bay on Lake St. Clair, about twelve times between me and two other guys. You have to start out with a 12" hole to end up with a 4" hole by the time you break through. Never again!

TomToolery · « **Reply #22 on:** Dec 18, 2007, 07:02 PM »

lol boys dont even know what a hand auger looks like http://img.youtube.com/vi/3Y-k-cX7rTE/default.jpg Tom

icy mike · « **Reply #23 on:** Dec 19, 2007, 02:56 PM »

hmmm... thickest ice??? that would have been the heart of an old girlfriend years ago. I augered all the way to bottom only to find out it was frozen solid

prchslyr · « **Reply #24 on:** Dec 19, 2007, 03:00 PM »

Quote from: icy mike on Dec 19, 2007, 02:56 PM

hmmm... thickest ice??? that would have been the heart of an old girlfriend years ago. I augered all the way to bottom only to find out it was frozen solid
[/quote Lmmfao Been there done that 2 good one]

KP_Alaska · « **Reply #25 on:** Dec 19, 2007, 08:40 PM »

Back in the 70's when I first started ice fishing here in Fairbanks my buddies and I bought a hand auger to fish for burbot on the Tanana. After our first outing trying to drill through that frozen silt we gave up on the that brand new dull auger and decided to buy a power auger. We went and bought one that you bolted onto a chainsaw with the bar and chain removed, I believe we had a McColloch saw. It was a gear reduction that had enough torque to spin me in those days, wouldn't stand a chance today. Anyone else ever see one of those? Still have that hand auger and it probably still needs sharpening.

4cator · « **Reply #26 on:** Dec 20, 2007, 02:07 AM »

About 40 inches.

ice junkie · « **Reply #27 on:** Dec 20, 2007, 10:38 AM »

I work in the bush and have seen the locals use ice chipping bars not even hand auger 5-6 feet. I remember one time before a cat train I test dill some holes in a river with a 3 hp with 2 1' extensons + auger. I'm 6'6" and it was almost over my head. I never hit water.

djkruszewski · « **Reply #28 on:** Dec 21, 2007, 09:14 PM »

i was at a wisconsin trap attack and the ice was 18 inches thick, felt like it took 15 minutes. i didn't drill too much after that. boy i need a gas auger.

UP jigstick · « **Reply #29 on:** Dec 21, 2007, 10:45 PM »

As a teenager, early 70's, on Saginaw Bay I once spudded through 30" of ice to find 2' of water on top of a sand bar, does that count? Haven't owned a hand auger in twenty years. If it doesn't have a power head attached to it, I no longer want to use it.

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Author Topic: thickest ice you've hand augered (Read 6270 times)