New Ice Auger; What should I be looking at?

[Mallardsx2]

Propane. Bring you an extra tank....

 

[mn taxidermist]

I have a 40v strike master and love it

 

[huntin24/7]

Strikemaster 40V lithium. You can find a deal where it comes with an extra battery for free if you’re patient. I love mine and am on my 3rd year with it. Used to have a strikemaster 2 stroke for years before that and it was great too. I can drill about 50 holes per battery with 18ish” of ice.

Also, strikemaster customer service is top notch the few times I’ve needed them in 20 years of their augers.

 

[MThuntr]

Ross, maybe we can get a the bear crew together for an ice fishing tournament next winter to test your auger.

 

[lifesupport4u]

KDrill seems pretty sweet… I don’t ice fish much but my brother in law in MN has one and it worked great. One less small motor to maintain!

 

[Bigjay73]

There is no sound more annoying than a gas auger on a quiet frozen lake. Theres always that one ahole who has to drill a new hole every 10 mins. Anything electric is the only way to go

 

[Treeshark]

Another happy Ion owner here, love it.

 

[Sask hunter]

If wanting electric my turned has had the strike master 40v for several Years with no issues. I would stick with 10” hole I often even use a 10” hole for perch.

 

[Treeshark]

10” electric eats battery much faster than an 8”.

If I caught as many of those big northern as you catch thought, I’d get a 10” too.

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

I got the Ion Gen2 and LOVE IT! Came with the extra battery. Light as hell and cuts a 10” hole fast.

 

[Jason73]

My jiffy, vintage 1990ish still works. But I don't live in MN anymore and if I did I probably would go electric. Sure would be nice when drilling holes at 2 am after a 7 hour drive to LOTW and then letting the smoke settle so you can get 3 hours of sleep before the bite starts, lol. Best of luck.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

I highly recommend the strikemaster. One thing to keep in mind, Ions are chipper blades and the strikemasters are lazer blades. If you have a dirtier lake or do a lot of re-drilling holes, I’d go ion. If you have a clean lake and mainly do new holes, SM is the way to go. Either way, I’m sure you’ll be happy.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Ross, maybe we can get a the bear crew together for an ice fishing tournament next winter to test your auger.

I’ll bring the 7-Up for some boiled ling.

 

[smalls]

Not many situations where I prefer a 10". I feel like more than anything it's just more space to drop my phone/keys down into the murky depths or for my kids to accidentally step in. You can get a pretty big fish through an 8" hole.

I'd go with the Strikemaster 40v 8" myself. I prefer the ergonomics of the SM a little better than the ion however the Ions are a little lighter with the polymer flighting. I still lug around a 30 year old jiffy gas burner but I'm not going to be able to resist going electric for much longer.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Ross, maybe we can get a the bear crew together for an ice fishing tournament next winter to test your auger.

Maybe we can host here in MN. We have more lakes than you can shake a stick at...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I’ll bring the 7-Up for some boiled ling.

The International Eel Pout (read: lingcod) Festival was held every year about 20min from the cabin. Just sayin....

 

[mtmiller]

Not many situations where I prefer a 10".

I use a 9" Jiffy (old), but electric looks pretty cool. I would probably go with 10" if I buy new. In my part of the country, 9" goes to 6" overnight (keep it clean folks)

 

[MNElkNut]

Strikemaster electric here. Dont touch the blades to your coat. I know what will happen!

They work great. I love not having another gas motor to maintain. The batteries are vexilar style batteries, whatever they are called. $15 bucks and they last for years. Unless you are run and gunning, they cut plenty of holes. If you are run and gunning, then go lithium or just buy a few.

 

[Steiny]

I've been very pleased with my Jiffy 8", LP power auger, however if ice is 8" or less a sharp hand auger works fine.

 

[theat]

Ross, I just got an 8” Ion for Christmas. So far I’m really happy with it. The reverse function is nice to keep less water and chips from accumulating up on the ice. Another reason I picked the Ion over a Strikemaster is the blade design since I do fish in places that occasionally get a bunch of sand/dirt blown onto the ice and supposedly the Ion blades will keep their edge longer. Also read some reviews online that claimed the Strikemaster blades can leave a sharper edge on the ice at the bottom of the hole and lead to more broken lines. Those reviews were a few years old so that might not be an issue any longer. I got the 8” inch for faster and easier drilling. I usually just drill a second hole right next to the one I fish through for any electronics. I was able to squeeze this guy through an 8” hole and don’t expect to catch anything much bigger.