The Joy Of Having A Power Auger For Ice Fishing
Drilling through 25+ inches of ice with a manual auger is about as much fun as mucking stalls. Before the first hole is done, you’re breathing harder and unzipping your floater suit in an attempt to cool down. Searching for active fish is all but forgotten as you decide that two holes is enough effort; maybe you can call the fish to you. Eventually, ice fishing becomes a bit of a drag and all you want is for the ice to disappear so you can get the boat out.
Darrell and I had reached that point a few weeks ago, and we realized it may be time to take the financial plunge and pick up a power auger. With winter failing to release its grip on Southern Ontario, having a way to return to our active fishing methods seemed like a good investment.
After researching different brands of augers, comparing prices, and reading reviews, we picked up an Eskimo Stingray auger. Price was a major factor, as was the input of a fellow blogger who loves her Eskimo auger. Within five minutes of returning home, Darrell had the auger out of the box and was bugging me to go fishing. With a major school project due the following day, I felt I could not spare the time to hit the ice. Hours passed and I finally had the majority of my work completed, so we packed light and headed for the lake.
So much better! This auger is awesome.
Going old school is always a treat – no hut to drag around, a smaller selection of rods and lures to cycle through, and a couple of buckets to have a seat on. We rarely fish like this anymore, preferring to have our hut available when it’s cold.
The ice on this particular lake was about 30 inches thick, but the Eskimo fired up with two pulls and had no trouble chewing through it. Darrell drilled five or six holes immediately; more than he’s drilled in the last two outings combined. The fish finder was marking suspended crappie so I dropped a Rapala Jigging Shad Rap down the hole and start working the fish higher in the water column, hoping they would be more active. They were curious enough to inspect my lure, but not hungry enough to bite.
While I continued to search for bites, Darrell fired up the auger again and drilled more holes in search of active fish. I couldn’t let him have all the fun so I abandoned the picky fish in my first few holes and took a turn with the auger. I had been worried that the auger would be difficult for me to use, but it was neither too heavy nor too awkward for me to handle.The grins on our faces made it apparent how happy we were with the new investment.
I returned to fishing and when my little jig failed to get a bite, I switched up to a small, natural-coloured Jigging Rap. With a couple of big snaps to spike some interest, I settled into a subtle jiggling technique, finessing the Jigging Rap as much as possible. It worked, and I managed to reel in a decent crappie.
A decent crappie through the ice.
Dropping the lure back down the hole, I again played with the lines on the fish finder. Lines were following my lure up and up, only to turn around and swim away. Then every fish I was marking disappeared. I gave the lure a snap and my rod bent down the hole – woohoo! The drag on this particular reel has a tendency to loosen off with time, so I ended up having a nice fight with the little pike that had decided to bite. A small tightening of the drag had the fish in a little faster, and after a quick photo op, he went back down the hole.
Good fight for a small fish.
Our night ended shortly after that fish, as we realized daylight-savings time had tricked us into thinking it was earlier in the night than it really was. It was time to head home and feed our creatures.
Now that we have this awesome tool that allows us to remain mobile and search for active fish, with far less effort than the manual auger, both of us are looking forward to hitting the ice again. Plans have already been made to spend this coming weekend on the ice, and I can’t wait to get out there.
argosgirl
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You’ve definitely had a fine season on the ice, but if you share the sentiments of most outdoor folk in our region, you’re probably longing to see the flowing water once again. I, for one, am ready to fish and celebrate.
Absolutely! I’m watching the rivers and cheering every time one opens up 🙂