Sharp blades are a must when it comes to punching holes through the ice.
When it comes time to cut those holes in the ice there is no more important piece of ice fishing gear than your auger. And if you have dull blades you are in for a world of frustration as you are trying to punch all those holes to keep chasing those fish, especially when you are ice fishing crappie. Let’s be honest, one of the most important tenets of the modern ice angler is the ability to move around to many holes and find active pods of fish in the size you are looking for. It is common for me to punch 30-50 holes in one trip to ensure I am constantly on top of fish. Sure once you find the fish you are set, but until that time you are bound by the number of holes you can drop your ice fishing flasher down to find fish and put your best ice fishing jig in front of their face. This is where sharpening ice auger blades becomes a necessity.
Strikemaster has a great tool that works for sharpening your blades and works very well while you are out and about.
US $12.00
One route that I would suggest is to finding an extra set of ice auger blades for sale for your specific model and bring them with. Switching out a set of blades usually is a pretty quick job and can really change the landscape on how many holes you can punch.
The problem with sharpening the blades on your own is that you need to have that edge of the blade cut just perfectly or it won’t work correctly. Trust me as a guy who has used an auger that had sharp blades, but was off kilter because I lost one of the bolts and replaced it with one from my local hardware store. That hand ice auger just flat out wouldn’t cut a hole until I went to Strikemaster and bought the correct bolt.
And just because you have a power gas ice auger doesn’t mean that you don’t need sharp blades. Dull blades with a power auger still is a pain, you seem to have to lean on the auger the entire time you are cutting the hole. And with an electric ice auger you are going to wear that battery charge out much faster than necessary.
One final thing, you can often send in your old dull blades to be sharpened by a pro. With my Nils ice auger I have used a guy I would strongly recommend for his expedience and quality work (in addition to a square price). Here is his contact information:
Frank DeLuca
5382 Jentoft Rd,
Saginaw, MN
55779
frankbdeluca (at) yahoo.com
