6 inch vs 8 inch auger.

[MuskieBait]

Here's what you do...

When you watch TV, go do 3 reps of 30 push-ups. Take a break, then do some more in an hour.

Drink lots of milk, eat lots of meat and eggs...and you don't have to worry about a 8" auger anymore.

I had an 8" auger that I traded for a 6" auger...back in the days when I first started icefishing and back in the days when we had 24" of ice by Feb. I'm not kidding you...there were a few occasions when we were down to the handle and was barely able to punch through the last inch of ice. Going through 24" of ice with an 8" auger is brutal...a little less work with 6" auger since the 2" difference has a lot to do with reduced torque on the outer edge as the diameter increase. The rotation and power comes from the center of the auger...and it is reduced on the outer edge the more the diameter of the auger increase...

Nowadays, we barely have 12" of ice on Simcoe in Feb...and I do miss my 8" auger. A couple of years ago, I couldn't fit a 8lb whitefish through my 6" hole. It would have been my PB Lake Whitefish. As I was waiting for my friend to borrow a gaff to for the fish through, the hook came out...

BTW, I would not advise gaffing and squeezing the fish through unless you intend to keep it. I was preparing to keep that fish. It had a clipped pectoral fin so it was a stocked fish.