hand auger

[Linesider82]

The 8" Nils handauger made its debut for me on the ice this weekend. The double offset handles took some getting used to, but by the tenth hole I was able to get the correct technique down. Fished 3 different lakes/ponds with various ice conditions. The first was a small pond that had an inch of snow/ice crust followed by 3.5" of black ice. The second was 3.0" of black ice with no crust, and yesterday the last was a 4" mixed of black ice on the bottom and the top 2" was a mix of snow and ice. The auger cuts awesome using a slow steady turns and very slight downward pressure, just enough to keep it cutting. The difference is that the entire bit is one single welded piece as opposed to two separate blades. The auger is heavier than other brands. I found that once the bit broke through I did have to plunge it down then ease it back out since it was leaving a little hangnail of ice that the blade was getting hung on without a plunging it. I drilled aprox. 80 holes over the two days, and don't feel fatigued or sore in my arms like I normally do from other augers. I do feel like if there were 5"+ of ice the auger would have done better as the hole would help the auger from wanting to dance during the last turn or two after poking through. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 as a rating for ice 4" thick or less. Will update this post when I get on thicker ice.

[Rockfish9]

the only complaint with the nils is it goes from cutting awesome to wont cut anything quickly.. be very careful of sand or tainted ice...these augers ( Nils ) are far less tolerant to contaminated ice than other brands...

[FishermanTim]

Before you throw in the towel (figuratively) check the blades.
Check to see if they are dull which could be a possibility.
Also check to see if the blades are seated tightly, since even a little looseness could change the pitch of the blades making them not cut.

I picked up a cheap 6" Bass pro model, and when I put it together at home (I wanted to see what it looked and felt like) I noticed that the screws on one blade were not fully tightened. I would not have been prepared to fix that out on the ice without a lot of cursing and fuming!


Hope the issue can be solved at home and you won't have to shell out $$ for another auger.