hand auger

[Sea of Atlas]

I have an 8" Strikemaster Swedish Mora and a 6" Nils, both work great and have their place. The 8" is really more for lake trout and a transducer cable--the 6" for panfish and long walks.

Frank DeLuca in Minnesota is highly recommended for sharpening Nils blades as he has been doing it a long time. Never head to use the service yet but you can mail your blades to him for expert sharpening. I did buy new blades for the Mora and it works just as good as a Nils.

Finally bought a gas auger a few years ago when I was hand drilling holes through two feet of ice but still use my hand augers 75% of the time.

[FishermanTim]

I had a nice workout this past weekend fishing up in the lakes region.
Hand augers can cut in thick ice conditions, but it's a real workout with ice that is over a foot thick.
I had the handle extended to the max on my eskimo and ended up leaning over it when I finally punched through.

Luckily I only had to cut 2 holes to start and then again when I moved around, or my arms would be completely shot!

Awesome conditions and a few decent fish were caught on traps and jigging rods.

I may need to get the blades sharpened as I did notice a little chipping (from when I bottomed out on an earlier test hole).
It still cuts, but it could be better/easier with perfect blades.

Just doing some test fishing for the big derby next month.