Sask trapper
New member
Do we have any fisherman on here? Im looking for recomendation on ice augers
OT ice fisherman
- Thread starter Sask trapper
- Start date
Rocky1
New member
Haven't bought one in a long time, and did in fact sell mine to my nephew when I started migrating back and forth to Florida. But I had the Strikemaster Lazer 9 in. auger, was a 3 blade auger supposed to be REALLY FAST. That was/is one badass auger too, let me tell you!!
Fishing buddy's kid was out on the lake with his 10 in. Jiffy one day and he tried to tell me how fast it was; I told him it was easy to prove... 3 hole sprint, first auger out wins. We had about 18 - 20 inches of ice at the time. I really had no clue whether I could beat him or not, knew mine was fast, knew it was supposedly a third again as fast as the Jiffy according to advertisement. I had no clue how fast the Jiffy was; however it was all for braggin rights, so what the heck.
He wasn't but maybe a quarter of the way into his second hole when I pulled out of my third. We were both in awe! Don't know if they make that one anymore, haven't had to drill holes in the water to fish for about 10 years now, but I'd definitely recommend the 9 inch Lazer if they do.
Only down side to the 9 in. Lazer was the fact the blades were slightly curved and difficult if not impossible to sharpen. Had to be sent back to the factory to sharpen them on a special hone. (Think they charged $10 to sharpen the set, or some ridiculous something.) Was just the aggravation of having to send them in, more than anything. Cost of replacement blades was not real cheap since it was a 3 blade set, want to say they ran around $75 for the set, back there around '00 - '02 when I bought the auger.
Fishing buddy's kid was out on the lake with his 10 in. Jiffy one day and he tried to tell me how fast it was; I told him it was easy to prove... 3 hole sprint, first auger out wins. We had about 18 - 20 inches of ice at the time. I really had no clue whether I could beat him or not, knew mine was fast, knew it was supposedly a third again as fast as the Jiffy according to advertisement. I had no clue how fast the Jiffy was; however it was all for braggin rights, so what the heck.
He wasn't but maybe a quarter of the way into his second hole when I pulled out of my third. We were both in awe! Don't know if they make that one anymore, haven't had to drill holes in the water to fish for about 10 years now, but I'd definitely recommend the 9 inch Lazer if they do.
Only down side to the 9 in. Lazer was the fact the blades were slightly curved and difficult if not impossible to sharpen. Had to be sent back to the factory to sharpen them on a special hone. (Think they charged $10 to sharpen the set, or some ridiculous something.) Was just the aggravation of having to send them in, more than anything. Cost of replacement blades was not real cheap since it was a 3 blade set, want to say they ran around $75 for the set, back there around '00 - '02 when I bought the auger.
try2hunt
New member
Bought an Eskimo HC40 propane with a 10 in auger last year and I love it. Since buying it my buddies gas auger has been retired. Not that it didn't work well but it always seemed like one of us ended up smelling like gas. The HC started first or second pull in subzero weather with no problems all last season. It is a little heavier then the gas models but not enough to matter.
blucoondawg
New member
I run about a 20 year old 8 inch strike master my dad got me for Christmas one year when I was a kid. It's not fast but I'm not racing either, the next one I buy will be propane unless they come out with something far better, I just like propane for easy starting and no spilling dribbling stinky 2 stroke gas and dealing with gummed up carbs. This winter looks horrible, should have been on ice weeks ago and it has recently went back out. No snow no ice is fixing to give me cabin fever shortly
I have a 8" Magnum III that is over 30 years old that still works good, I also have a 10" Jiffy 30 that is 15 years old and they both still drill good. I would say they are about the same speed at drilling, but I have never tried both at the same time to see which one is faster.
This is seemingly an old thread, but I'll add my two cents.
Electric will improve but when will it be perfect? Never. For me I love my ION. It's lighter than my old reliable Jiffy Model 30 (until it finally wore out after many years of use), it starts at the squeeze of the trigger, it has reverse. The best auger depends on what type of fishing you do. Late last winter when the ice was thicker I could drill about 30-40 holes. For me that is more than I will drill most days but for some that is barely half of what they will drill.
For me an 8 inch is also plenty big. You can bring a 20# northern through a 6-inch hole. If you have young kids fishing with you and you use a 10-inch auger you are eventually going to have a boot full of water. As earlier, best is defined by what you want and need.
But i was lucky enough to buy a 2HP Eskimo https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-ice-augers/ with a Tecumseh engine on it before they went out of business. Bought it probably 8 or 9 years ago now. Fires up right away, had the carbs professionally cleaned two years ago, still haven't replaced a spark plug. Been a great gas auger. I wouldn't have an issue with buying another gas auger, but it would for sure be a two stroke.
Electric will improve but when will it be perfect? Never. For me I love my ION. It's lighter than my old reliable Jiffy Model 30 (until it finally wore out after many years of use), it starts at the squeeze of the trigger, it has reverse. The best auger depends on what type of fishing you do. Late last winter when the ice was thicker I could drill about 30-40 holes. For me that is more than I will drill most days but for some that is barely half of what they will drill.
For me an 8 inch is also plenty big. You can bring a 20# northern through a 6-inch hole. If you have young kids fishing with you and you use a 10-inch auger you are eventually going to have a boot full of water. As earlier, best is defined by what you want and need.
But i was lucky enough to buy a 2HP Eskimo https://under-the-open-sky.com/best-ice-augers/ with a Tecumseh engine on it before they went out of business. Bought it probably 8 or 9 years ago now. Fires up right away, had the carbs professionally cleaned two years ago, still haven't replaced a spark plug. Been a great gas auger. I wouldn't have an issue with buying another gas auger, but it would for sure be a two stroke.