Gear Review: ION Ice Auger

With ice fishing season around the corner, it’s time to look over your ice auger, replace blades if needed, and maybe convince yourself it’s time for an upgrade. Upgrading is exactly what we did last year when we bought the ION G2 Ice Auger.

A manual ice auger has always been our go-to. We kept it to a 6-inch because that’s plenty big enough for what we’ll catch around here, and the bigger you go, the harder it is to drill. They’re cheap, easy to use, and easy to replace blades on.

Side note – Make sure your REPLACE the blades, not sharpen them. It’s too easy to royally mess up the angle when you sharpen them. It once took me 15 minutes to drill a hole when I was waiting for Darrell to arrive at the lake after work. I thought I was just weak. Then he tried it and had a bugger of a time too. This was after he’d tried sharpening the blades. Just get new ones.

Of course, there comes a point every season when the ice is too thick for you to want to drill a hole manually. Drilling through 2-feet of ice is no fun, especially when you drill as many holes as we do (we aren’t spot campers). The winter we had 3-feet of ice to drill through was when we bought a gas auger.

The gas auger was awesome. We could drill through lots of ice quickly and without getting exhausted. But it had drawbacks. It’s heavy so we only took it out once the ice was thick enough to justify it. And it’s loud. There was always the chance of a gas leak. If you don’t use it often enough, the motor gets gummed up and you’re having to clean it. It wouldn’t always start right away. There’s just things to deal with.

We started leaving it at home more often than not.

Last year we spent time researching other ice auger options. As we were driving to the lake one day, with the manual auger in tow, we decided it was time to pull the trigger. Credit card at the ready, we stopped at a Canadian Tire, bought the last ION G2 Ice Auger they had in stock, and charged a battery on the remainder of our drive.

Yeah, we’re impulse buyers like that. We do lots of research ahead of time, but it’ll be a sudden decision that makes us go for it.

What we discovered that day, and on following outings, is that electric ice augers are ABSOLUTELY the way to go. The ION G2 Ice Auger was everything we hoped it would be.

Since we bought the G2, ION has now come out with their Alpha series, and that’s more likely to be what you’ll find in the stores, but the benefits will only increase with the new series.

Weight

We bought the 8-inch auger that weighed in at 17lbs. Such a difference compared to dragging the gas auger around, and it doesn’t feel a whole lot heavier than the manual. We put the gas auger in a sled to tow it out, whereas we can easily carry the manual ice auger.

On our first outing with the ION, Darrell carried it out to the fishing spot without difficulty. Did he feel it more than a manual? Sure. But he still spent the whole walk marveling at how light it was.

The weight savings also makes a big difference when using it. With the gas auger I felt like I had to haul it up all the time and I’d get tired of dragging it around to drill holes. I never get tired of lifting up the ION ice auger.

Noise

I’ve never enjoyed listening to the whine of a gas auger. If I’m fishing, I want peace. The difference between the two augers was never more apparent than while fishing at Guelph Lake last winter. We were drilling holes with next to no noise, just the cutting of ice. The angler nearest to us was using a gas auger and I could barely hear Darrell talking while the holes were being drilled. Electric = Quiet.

Speed

Do you want the fastest way to drill holes? This is it. The ION ice auger outshines every other option we’ve tried. From what I’ve heard, the Alpha series is even faster than the G2, which is stupid fast in my opinion. We can do multiple holes in the time it takes a gas auger to do one, and that’s without even trying to go fast.

Power

If I don’t have to provide the muscle power, or deal with gas fumes and potential spills, I’m going to be happy. We got two batteries with our ION ice auger and that was plenty. They work great and will drill a whole pile of holes on a single charge, IF you don’t let them get super cold. They’re still batteries and they don’t love the cold.

By cold, I’m talking about -30C temperatures.

We solved that by making sure they stay warm, either inside our jackets, or in a warm hut. We have a cooler bag that stay in and that seems to be enough in the hut.

Price

This was the big stumbling block for me at first. We spent around $1,000 for our auger (I don’t remember the exact amount but I think it was on sale). That’s a whole lot more than $140 for a manual ice auger, or even $500 for a gas auger. Or whatever it costs to buy the drill adapter kit.

That said, when I think about how long this auger will hopefully last, the headaches we no longer have by using it, and how much fun I have now have drilling ice holes, it’s 100% worth it. Also, with the Alpha series the prices are coming down.

Final Verdict – Buy an ION Ice Auger

If you have the budget, pull the trigger and buy one.

I freaking love our ION ice auger so much. Even writing this post has brought a smile to my face and made me more excited for ice fishing. Electric ice augers are absolutely the way to go. We don’t buy gear because it’s the latest and greatest. Our bank account says we can’t. We buy gear that makes our trips easier and more fun. Our ION G2 ice auger does exactly that.

Looking for an easy way to organize your gear while ice fishing? Check out the tote we use in our flip-over hut.