A fisherman can use an ice fishing auger to both drill a hole in the ice and remove the ice from the hole. Ice fishermen must first break through the ice in order to catch the fish below, and augers have proven to be one of the most efficient ways to do so. Other methods, such as chipping or hammering holes in the ice, require far more effort and run the risk of causing large, potentially dangerous cracks in the ice. A large screw is turned into and through the ice to create an ice fishing auger. It is then yanked out of the hole, dragging the excess ice behind it.
There are many different types of augers for ice fishing, and they come in a wide range of prices. The most basic type of ice fishing auger is a hand auger. Hand augers are made up of a handle attached to a long screw that is used to break through thick ice. Drilling a hole in the ice with a hand auger can take a lot of effort and time. A hand auger, on the other hand, is far more portable and lighter than a motorized ice fishing auger.
Over the course of a long day of fishing, manually cutting through ice with a hand auger can become tiresome. This is especially true in the dead of winter, when ice can be several feet thick on a lake. This problem is solved by using motorized, gas-powered augers. They can cut clean holes in the ice quickly and easily, preventing exhaustion and allowing fishermen to drill more holes and spend more time on the ice. Motorized augers, on the other hand, are much heavier than hand augers and can be much more difficult to transport without the use of a vehicle.
When selecting an ice fishing auger, a fisherman will take into account a variety of factors. The size of the hole to be drilled is an important factor to consider. Some augers can drill holes as small as four inches (10 cm) in diameter, making them ideal for panfish fishing. Other augers can drill holes up to ten inches (about 25 cm) in diameter, which are ideal for catching larger fish like pike. Drilling smaller holes is easier than drilling larger holes. Many ice fishermen drill multiple holes at once in order to have multiple lines in the water at any given time.