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Waubbir

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About Waubbir

  • Birthday 06/04/1980

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    North Bergen,NJ
  • Interests
    hunting,fishing

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  1. Sorry for bumping...just my two cents... I have a 6" diameter manual auger like this https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-ice-augers/ that I bought about 25 years ago for $49 About 5 years ago I bought an 8" gas auger for a lot more. If the ice is less than 12" thick, sometimes even less than 18" thick, I prefer the manual auger -- a lot less weight to haul, easy to drill through 12" of ice manually. More ice than that and I get lazy and want the ease of the gas auger to punch lots of holes. Plus, a 6" diameter hole is kind of like having tunnel-vision when you stare down a through 3' of ice before you get to water... the 8" power auger hole gives a much better window on the world below. But none of that matters if the ice is only a foot thick. In fact, it's easier to land a fish in a smaller diameter hole, because in an 8" or 10" hole they can turn around and try to swim down, whereas in a 6" hole they can't turn around. With a manual auger, you want to keep the blades as sharp as possible since you are doing all the work. I found I had to replace them once a year when that was the only auger I was using. I could sharpen them with Japanese sharpening stones at home and sometimes get another full season out of them, but that was really pushing it and it's better to buy brand new blades each year unless you are a master at re-sharpening them. I've never cut myself so many times and so badly as when I used to change blades on my manual auger... they couldn't invent a razor blade so sharp and so sneaky! I have used a manual auger to drill through 3 feet of ice on numerous trips. But those tended to be one-hole or two-hole fishing days. That's why I bought the gas auger -- to punch 20 holes thru 3' of ice and give myself lots of variety on where to fish. But if you are fishing ice of a foot or so thick, a manual auger is all you need. There are many interesting videos on YouTube on this topic.
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