Thoughts on Power Augers!

[Rockbass6]

Alright ice fisherman. Does anyone here think that the power augers hurt your fishing?! I went out yesterday and didn't catch a thing in the same spot that in the previous day picked up 23 gills and sunnies. I feel it was because of all the guys with power augers drilling holes all around me. I use a hand auger that drills a 6'' hole and have no problem drilling through 8'' of Ice. It cuts through like butter and makes a minimal amount of noise. Is it really necessary to use a power augerer to drill your holes? It sounds like a damn chainsaw!! I think it scares the fish away for not only yourself but everyone else in your vicinity.
Do you think there is a relationship? I think old school is better. Well at least as far as ice fishing goes?

 

[spotfin]

No, I don't think power augers scare fish away. Can't be any worse than having snowmobiles screeming by all day.
I use one and think they are great, especially when you have to drill through 2-3 feet of ice. Wouldn't want to do that with a hand auger.

 

[Muske]

I've used both and caught fish both ways. I can see your point, but I haven't noticed a difference.

 

[Bluegill]

Bluegills always are on the move. I noticed that with the perch on a river that I ice fish. They will be in the same general area but not in the same hole. Thats why I always drill at least 10 holes in a big circle and spend about 10 minutes at each one. I use a gas auger 10 inch and I have caught over 400 yellow perch and 7 trout jigging right after I drilled a hole.

 

[Zorro]

Augers do not hurt fishing at all. The fish move just need to go to a diffrent spot to pattern the fish better.

 

[JD7.62]

Im glad I live in a part of the country where I had to read this thread to find out what an auger is!

 

[Rockbass6]

I just thought maybe hut traffic could play a part in the fishing. Maybe something similar to boat traffic in the summer. I know sometimes if you troll over a pack of walleyes too many times in the summer with a motorboat they will stop hitting. You need to let them calm down make bigger passes and then stop back. I went out today and caught them again there were less guys and everyone seemed to be hitting them. They might not get as spooked when there is ice above their head. Maybe there is a relationship or it could just be that they moved back in or possibly a little of both. I picked up some real nice sunnies today and 10 real nice perch around the 9-12 inch mark this morning. I'm going out tonite to try and pick up some steelhead just for fun. They are a good time to say the least if there hitting!

 

[Rockbass6]

Im glad I live in a part of the country where I had to read this thread to find out what an auger is!

HAHA LUCKY YOU!!

 

[frnchjeep]

I used to have a room mate that would cut the ice with a chainsaw.

 

[guppy]

My thoughts on power augers is that they are pretty much useless during warm weather, heheh.
They work great during a hard freeze though and are no worse than chopping a hole by hand. If you wait an hour or so any spooked fish will have calmed down.