It’s hard to go ice fishing when your auger does not work!
I am both upset and sad after our trip to Puntchesakut Lake today. This was our first trip of the year and the boys were a little nervous about the thickness of the ice. I saw an opportunity to teach them more about ice safety (and myself) on this trip. Little did I know, I would learn an expensive lesson about auger placement and what not to do.
We started by drilling our first test hole about 5ft away from shore. The auger was working flawlessly. I drilled thru at least ten inches of ice before pushing thru the bottom as I normally do. Then, I moved about ten feet further out and attempted to drill a second test hole. This time, the auger would not cut the ice like butter. What was happening?
I tried pushing harder, which did not work. My auger would only bounce around after drilling a half inch hole. I filmed my issue, then continued to try and figure out what was causing my auger to not cut the ice.
To the naked eye, everything looked normal. I placed my auger on the tail gate of my truck and inspected it (with the limited knowledge that I have). At first I thought that the cutting arm itself was bent, but ruled this out soon after I decided to find a straight edge and check my blades.
From what I understand, most auger issues develop from hitting the blades hard against an object. I’ve even heard that a person should always place the auger gently on the ice and not bang it down in an attempt to start a pilot hole.
As I closely inspected my blades, I noticed two things. First, I noticed slight chipping on one blade. It looked like it had hit something, but I had not noticed anything while drilling my hole. Then, when I placed my straight edge on this blade, I could see a pronounced bend in the blade compared to the other one. What had happened?
I was determined to figure out what had caused my issue. I have never placed it on the ice abruptly, nor have I ever abused it. I always put the cap on after each use and gently place it down. My only option left was to investigate my first hole.
As I brought my auger over to the first hole, I questioned how deep the water was. Since this was my first time at this location, I thought maybe the water was shallower than I thought. I lowered my auger into the hole carefully and started trying to find the bottom of the ice. As I suspected, the ice was almost the same depth as the water. When I broke thru the ice, I must have pushed my auger into what felt like rocks on the bottom.
My conclusion, next time I will be starting my test hole a minimum of ten feet from shore. Also, I will only drill about six to eight inches to ensure safe ice.
While this trip was unsuccessful in catching fish, I still believe it was a valuable lesson for myself and others to learn from. I still consider myself a novice ice angler as my days on the water are usually mid season after other anglers prove the main ice paths safe. While this works for popular spots, it does not help me learn about areas that have no angler pressure. I look forward to getting out again and learning something else. I have also decided that carrying a spare set of blades and the tools to change them on a fishing trip might help “save the day.”
While the drive to and from the lake under blue skies was amazing, a spare set of blades might have had us fishing and learning about kokanee in a new lake.
What are some auger tips, tricks and safety measures that you follow?