Hey I have a question for all you hand auger people. Looking to get a good one. I only ice fish after duck season so I get a couple months of fishing, and go at most once a week maybe a little less. I am planning on spending the money and getting a nils. My question is the 8 inch hole with a nils still going to be a ton of work. They get great reviews but I have heard that once get up to an 8 inch hole any hand auger is going to suck. I sometimes get up north where we fish for pike so I want the bigger hole. I have used a strikemaster mora 8 inch and it was so so, more work then I wanted to do. For you guys that have a nils, how much easier is it than the strikemaster.
Thanks
Don't know about the 8" but the 6" i have is sweet! Plus I managed to pull a 7lb rainbow w/ a 17" girth through it today, so you should be able to get a fairly good size fish in that size hole. But then I've never caught a pike so it may be too big.
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Never tried a Nils, in fact, never heard of it. I know this....compared to other hand drills, the strike master mora works really well. I think it would be hard to beat. I can drill as fast with my 7 inch strike master mora as a 10" power drill. And I haven't caught a fish I couldn't get through the hole, but I too have never fished for pike. Good luck. If you get a Nils, let us know how it works.
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Go with people that have power augers and you shouldn't have to worry[
] HA HA
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That sounds like a deal to me!!! I like to be served anyways. [cool]
Couldnt have been served more today... we take you fishing and you catch all the fish haha
oh and who needs a hand auger when you got me and poky drilling 9000 holes...
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You can get a 15# Mack through a six inch hole, so I would buy a Nils. It's fast and easy. I'm not sure if Nils makes an 8" auger, I'll have to check that one out. I'm pretty sure I would have bought the 8 incher if they did.
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Nils make a 6" and an 8". I wanted to buy a Nils, but could not justify the price. I ended up buying an 8" Eskimo Barracuda at Sportsman's. I have used it a few times now. 12" of ice takes me about 1 min. I am very impressed with the speed of which it cuts. It cuts nice smooth, straight holes. I can drill 2-3 holes before my arms want to give out. Once I drill a few more and get my arms in a little better shape, things should be easier. I have learned to space the drilling out. I drill one or two holes, then get the rods ready. Drill another hole or two and then get the shelter ready. Drill another hole, do something else. Hand augers are fine if you know where the fish are and only have to drill the one set of holes. If you need to drill holes looking for fish, a power auger is the way to go.
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If you take the 8" auger off of that Eskimo and put on a 10" it will cut smooth as silk and will not wear out your arms. It's amazing how much easier they are to run with a larger auger. My old 8" is sitting in the corner and I've never looked back! [
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