When electric power augers first came on to the ice fishing scene around ten years ago, they were heavy, slow and didn’t have the endurance to drill more than a few holes. Good for the person who was only looking to drill out a few holes in a shelter but not great for person who likes to cover water and drill a bunch of holes over the course of a fishing day. That was the perception that I carried with me about electric augers for years.
A couple of years back I went into Lake of the Woods Sports Headquarters in Kenora to buy a new auger. Strikemaster was one of the first paying sponsors that I had back in the mid 2000’s so I’ve always been loyal to them and have always had good experiences with their augers, so my plan was to get a new Strikemaster. I figured I would go with the four-stroke version that was lighter and quieter than the traditional two-cycle gas model.
The owner of the store, Bryan Gustafson, is a good friend and he mentioned to me that I should consider getting an electric auger and that they were becoming much more popular than gas powered augers. I still had a negative perception of them and I felt like if I was going on a big adventure for the day that the electric unit would fail me at some point. With gas, if the tank ran out I could just fill it back up.
I bought the four-stroke auger and started using it without any issues. About a week after my new purchase I had some friends from Minnesota come up to visit and fish for a few days. One of them had an electric auger along, which at first I didn’t use. At some point during the trip I ended up giving the electric auger a try and after drilling only a few holes with it, I realized that I wanted nothing to do with my gas powered auger anymore. The amazing part is you no longer have to pull a cord to start the motor, you just push a button and start drilling holes.
The electric version was much lighter, it was faster and it was less work to hang on to. I was amazed at how easily I could carry it around and drill holes. My next question was “how many holes can it drill”? My friend told me he had an extra battery with him and that we would be able to drill all the holes that we’d need. I can remember draining one battery later in an afternoon but there were six of us using it and we had drilled a bunch of holes looking for crappies in the morning then switched to lake trout in the afternoon.
Fast forward to today, I still have my four-stroke auger. It still works fine, but I find myself always borrowing my friend’s electric units whenever they are out on the ice. They really are the way to go and I’m sure at the start of next ice season I’ll make the move over to the electric side.
Gas powered augers are being phased out by all of the auger manufacturers and I would guess that in another few years it will be tough to even find a gas auger to purchase. I know that there are already some retail locations that have altogether quit carrying them. It’s hard to believe but it’s the way that many tools are going that have been traditionally gas-powered.
Keep the blades protected so they stay sharp, consider getting an extra battery and the perceptions about electric augers being slow and unreliable are no more. If you have not had the chance to try one yet, they are the way to go.
