Too hot to go outside…so started thinking ice fishing.
Curious to know if any one has any experience with…or plans to have any experience with the Otter Sonar Sled or the Eskimo E40 8in Composite auger.
Either one worth it?
I travel lite. Still use the small sled and a 30 year old Mora 8in hand auger. But recently had shoulder surgery so thought it might be time to consider something of an upgrade. My only issue I can see so far is how to transport it. My current setup is compact and easy. Mora breaks in half for easy stow.
Any thoughts on either?
I don’t need either honestly…as most of us I assume…we all have 10 times the amount of gear we will every need or get a chance to use. But we all know how fun new toys are.
Never too early to get excited about ice fishing! I dont have the Otter sled or the Eskimo auger, but looking at the sled my first thought is that it looks bulkier and heavier than my regular lightweight jet sled. If you have snowmobile it wouldnt matter, but if Im pulling by hand I would prefer the lighter setup. I also have an Ion auger and the battery powered tool is heavier than a hand auger but WELL worth the weight for the amount of work and time it saves to drill holes. Especially if you move much on the ice. Highly recommend the battery auger, whatever brand it is.
For the last 10 years or so I’ve been using an DeWalt battery powered drill motor. I started off with the 2 ah battery, then up graded to a 5 ah battery. I’ve never not had enough power to drill all the holes I want. The Nils augar is one I use, in the 6" size and as long as I’ve had it, I’ve never had to sharpen the blades. DeWalt drill motor, with the Nils augar is the best investment I’ve ever made. At the time it was $100 for drill motor and $100 for the drill.
While prices have gone up since WH2 bought his drill & auger, the value of them is still there. I stopped ice fishing after the 24/25 season and sold all my gear. The auger has a NILS 6" powered with a Milwaukee 1/2" battery drill and it never let me down. I would recommend the 5ah batteries as well. And as for a sled, investigate ‘Smitty Sleds’ on youtube. Any sled you buy will pull easier attached to a Smitty. Used skis can be found at your local DI store for very cheap. Good luck.
I had a Nils 8” and sold it and bought a Strikemaster Liteflite 8”. Much lighter overall and cuts well. I have it paired with a Milwaukee 1/2” drill.
I’ve been thinking about ice season already, but haven’t looked closely at any major items. About September I’ll go through rods, reels, replacement line, etc. I did buy a 40” Whisker Stick from Whisker Seeker. Mostly because I saw the huge Shefish being caught on it on an Outdoors Boys show in Alaska.
So, about 5 years ago, I had a 30+ year old blue 8" Strikemaster Mora auger. I took the lower half and my friend welded a metal rod onto the top. I insert the metal rod into my Flex 1/2" drill (sold at Lowes for just under $200) which included a 5amp/hr and 2amp/hr battery, plus a charger and hard case. The Flex drill has more torque than the Milwaukee and I turns the auger through 18" of ice just like butter. I did that due to having shoulder replacement. Why more people don’t convert their old manual augers to a drill-powered is baffling to me!! They’d rather spend $150 or more on a K drill, Nils, etc? Makes no sense when the new high-torque drills can, and do, power the old manual augers just fine. I did add a 10" circular piece of plywood above the auger flutes just in case it ever fell out of my drill, but that hasn’t happened in 5 years of use.
Man I’m hoping we get an ice season this year, the last two have been terrible… I have two years worth of new gear that I haven’t been able to try yet… so looking forward to ice a little thicker than 3" this year…
Curious to know if the most popular auger is 8". I’ve used that hand Mora 6in auger for 30 years and love it. I’ve caught some pretty big fish through a 6in hole and don’t feel like I’ve ever regretted carrying the 6in. Lighter and cuts holes faster with less effort. I do have an 8in just in case I feel like I’ll ever be in an area that calls for it but for now I’m still sticking with the 6in.
Also - that new Clam Pack Sled caught my attention at first but the more I look at it and think about how I fish …It doesn’t make sense for me. The $350 tag didn’t help either. Kinda ridiculous how expensive everything has gotten.
I’ve been using a 6" nils for 10 years or so and have never regreted it. When I use to ice fish Bear lake, I thought an 8" drill might be worth it but I’ve never thought it would be around here and I’ve never caught a fish that got off because it was too big to fit through an 6" hole
Curt I haven’t ever caught a fish that wouldn’t fit through the hole either, but I have lost two that didn’t fit up the hole, however, one (Bear Lake Mac) was likely more due to the hook catching on the ice lower edge and it pulled the hook loose… I also had a carp on at Willard that I couldn’t get to fit up the hole, ended up losing it… But that said I do like the 6" holes they are so much easier to drill than my original modified 8" hand drill auger… I did get an 8" pistol bit and it actually punches an 8" hole just about as easy as my nils 6" so I use it a lot lately and I’m not totally against a 10" hole… I like a big hole, but my 10" auger is a gasser and so I don’t think I’ve used it since I got electric, but it was sure nice on bear lake to have a big hole when you had a good sized fish on the line… I think you can get them to fit, but the challenge is keeping them on long enough to have everything line up just right… I’ve even had a couple crappie that were difficult fits in the 6" hole… So I don’t think a bigger hole is a bad thing, unless you have kids with you and they step in the hole, or it gets snowed over and you step in them not seeing them…
On that new sled you guys were talking about, I probably wouldn’t buy it, but I may steal some ideas from it and make something myself like it… I built a sled two years ago that has a seat and tables to holding my finders, but it’s too heavy, unless I pull it with the mobile… I think I may try one that is only a mount for the finders and sensors and hauling some gear… no seat, and I’d try to make this a hand pull design… Probably start working on something like that for this season… Think I’ll try something lighter than plywood and 2x4’s this time… Later J
Anyone know a good source for bulk ice line? I suspect mine will be needing a refresh before too much longer and I hate to pay a fortune for 200’ at a time… J
I’ve always used an 8” auger, and have never regretted it. If the blades are sharp, pretty much any drill is going to handle 8” just like 6”. I do like the 5 amp batteries much more than the 2 amp. If you’re drilling a lot of holes, a 2 amp batteries can get drawn down by the end of an outing. And let’s face it, if I’m hand drilling holes (which I never do anymore), I’m not drilling if I don’t have to. Having a drill and auger combination allows me to do just the opposite, so why not?!
Guess that isn’t going to work, I threw a few ideas into Chat and asked it to put together and ice sled design and it did okay for what I was looking for… I’ll have to put something together and post it when I get something I can export… Later J
The link worked for me…thats quite the sled! I wouldn’t want to physically pull it very far on my own…especially up a hill at the end of a day!!!
I know everyone has an opinion on what makes a good sled. For me, I think I finally found one that is the perfect starting point. Maybe not cheap, but its light, simple and in my mind I can think of many ways to modify it for whatever need I have. Sometimes I just go with my Jr Sled..other times I take the larger sled with a shelter. This setup I can see working for both those options…mostly just by changing out the two bars that create the “width” of the sled. Anyway…when I decide to build one I think I’ll start with this as the foundation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3CUnsTCZtw
