Hand Auger Opinion

[Hotwired]

I currently have an 8" Lazer hand auger and am thinking of downsizing.
I mostly fish St.Clair for perch with an ocassional trip to Saginaw River for walleye.
What size should I go to?
Also If I decide to go with a cordless drill set up what is the best size (volts and torque) for this.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[bolodunn]

i like the 8 but if you were gonna downsize i think the 6 is good. i don't know about the cordless adapters but i do know about cordless drills & i would say the 18v would be i deal. much more torque & better battery life.


i am looking to target walleye through the ice this year can you give me an idea of good locations?

[Tin Can]

The 6" Lazer , Curt, if you want someday try mine out if you like, as long as we are out together or on a day that I won't need it

Tin Can

[fishnfeathers]

What is this cordless drill adapter?? I've never heard of that before.

[Ed Stringer]

It's a bit that is designed to fit in a 18volt drill. I have one that a freind made for me in his machine shop. Look on ebay I think I saw them. I use the 5 inch lazor, hand when it's thin drill once she gets fat.

Eddie


"Geno's Home to Jolopy Perch"

[Ed Michrina]

I like the 8 inch. it would be cheaper to jsut get new blades. I wouldn't go smaller than a 6 inch due to the fact your ice scoop won't fit in the hole.

It kills me to see one guy standing doing nothing while the other one is drilling away. 2 man drilling is the way to go. both face eachother one grabs the handle the other places his hand on top. both grab the crank part and turn. 2 people with an 8 inch laser will drill a hole faster and just as easy as one with power.

with the drill you will have to keep the bat's warm. like inside you coat on the way out. Otherwise you bat will drain real quick. If you do put your bat in your coat and the coat is nylon on the inside be carefull it can ground out the bat and melt your coat, destory your bat and leave a nice mark where it heated up.

[Houghton laker]

I have the 5in. lazer and Ed is right...the ice scooper will barely fit inside the hole!! I am thinking of upgrading this year to a 6in. to make things a little easier....once the hole starts to freeze up a little you can not get the scooper in it !! Once the ice is thick enough to justify it I bring out the 8in. power auger....up north I switched years back to a 10in. auger and noticed a good amount of added walleyes that were not lost in the hole while coming up and thru!!...makes a difference when you have a fish comming up thru nearly 3ft. of ice!!

[Ed Michrina]

I have the 10 inch power laser . I lvoe it just because I like to look down and see the fish. do you want to watch a 6 inch TV or a 10 inch TV?

[Ed Stringer]

Scooper pooper they make a 4 inch scoop made by H.T.

Eddie

[Z202]

Hey Ed, Here's a little twist that makes your two man even easier. Just off set my 90 degrees, not facing each other. One man has the power on the push and pull. Then when the handle is crossing your body and you don't have much power, that's when the other person is in their power stroke of pushing or pulling.

[JJ Mac]

Hot wired.

I think the 6 in. would work out fine, since you fish for perch most of the time. Maybe someone would trade you a 6 inch for your 8 inch lazer? On those occasions where you want a bigger hole, just drill two holes next to each other and bust it through with the spud. I usually bring a christmas tree branch to put in the hole when I'm done so others don't step in it. I've never done the cordless drill thing, but from what I hear you gotta go with the 18v.

I have an 8 inch lazer too. While that size covers almost all worlds, it's just too much of a workout if the ice is 10 inches or more.

Personally, I'm just gonna break down and get a power auger, and use the 8 inch lazer during first ice. The money spent for a 6 inch, the attachment, and the wear and tear on the drill, I'm just gonna put that towards a Jiffy! I agree with Ed too, I'm going with the 10 inch.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

[hoffie1]

If price is not a problem,Why not keep the 8" for the river and go with a 4-5" for st.clair.

[William H Bonney]

I have the 6" lazer with the drill attachment with an 18V Ridgid. First off, do your homework on the drills and find out how much you want to spend. In the $200 range,, Ridgid had the most torque, outta all the brands,,(last year). The other thing about the Ridgid is, it has an adjustable "side-handle" to hang onto, almost like a jackhammer which makes it nice and easy to drill a straight hole. As far as batteries go,, mine came with 2 and the charging system Ridgid has, it only takes 20 minutes to fully charge the battery. I never ran outta juice on the ice, but if I did, I have a "converter" in my truck to plug in the charger and charge 'em up and it only takes 20 minutes. I always carry the handle to the auger with me,, just in case, anyway. I also saw Meijers was selling the drill attachments, but they didn't come with a "catch guard", so you don't loose your auger if the bit comes loose.

[tommy-n]

Go with the 6'', I have 2 6" , 1 7", 1 8" Every inch larger you go it takes almost twice as much power to turn. The 5" really bores a hole easily, but is a bit small to land a large crappie, fine for perch fishing however.

[Z202]

Anyone seen a 6 inch Laser type on sale? What is the going price this year?

[Tin Can]

Looking at $65.00 - $70.00 depending on where you go.

[Houghton laker]

I was at Lakeside bait yesterday and they have the 6" for I believe $67.00......I was thinking of getting it :confused: can't decide wether to just get new blades and stick with the 5" or upgrade to the 6"????desiscions