Ice
The best ice auger: diameter first, then how you want to power it
Eight inches fits every fish you will catch through it. Everything above that is weight you carry.
By Sawyer V. · Last updated · How we pick
The short answer
Buy 8 in unless you are specifically hunting big pike or lake trout. The StrikeMaster Lithium 40v publishes 24 lb at 8 in against 27 lb at 10 in, and 100 holes per charge against 70. The larger auger costs you weight, battery life and cutting time on every single hole.
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Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best ice auger StrikeMaster Lithium 40v Ice Auger 8 in at 24 lb or 10 in at 27 lb, 40-volt 5 Ah lithium, brushless motor, published at 100 holes per charge through 16 in of ice. | Anyone who moves around, and anyone tired of a gas engine that will not start | $499.99 · Check price on Amazon #ad how this is funded · price as of October 12, 2026 |
Diameter: why 8 inches is almost always right
A hole only has to be wider than the fish. An 8 in hole passes any panfish, walleye or bass, and most pike. A 10 in hole exists for lake trout and genuinely large pike.
| Diameter | Published weight | Holes per charge | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 in | Lighter still, on hand augers | More | Panfish only, and a tight fit for a walleye |
| 8 in | 24 lb | 100 | The general answer |
| 10 in | 27 lb | 70 | Lake trout and big pike |
The 8 against 10 comparison is unusually clean because both figures are published for the same auger: 3 lb more to carry and 30% fewer holes per charge, for a hole that most people never need. Cutting time per hole goes up too, because there is more ice to remove.
The one argument for 10 in is a fish you cannot get through an 8. Landing a big pike and finding it will not fit is a bad moment, and if your water holds them it is worth the weight.
Hand, electric or gas
Hand auger. Cheapest, lightest, silent, and completely dependent on you. A sharp hand auger through 8 in of early ice is quick; through 24 in of March ice it is a workout you will not repeat twenty times. Buy one if you fish early ice, fish alone on foot, or want a backup. The category is here: hand ice augers on Amazon.
Electric. The default now. No fuel, no starting drill, quiet enough not to spook fish in shallow water, and light enough to carry. The limitation is battery capacity in the cold.
Gas. Still the most power per pound for thick ice and all-day drilling. The costs are noise, fumes inside a shelter, fuel mix, and an engine that has spent nine months in a garage and now has to start at minus ten.
There is also a fourth option worth knowing about: a drill adapter that mounts an auger bit on a cordless drill you already own. It is the cheapest route to powered drilling, and it is slower and harder on the drill than a purpose-built auger.
Blades are the part that decides everything
A sharp auger cuts through a foot of ice in seconds. A dull one takes a minute and makes you think you need a more powerful auger.
Blades dull from two things: hitting the bottom in shallow water, and hitting sand or grit frozen into the ice. Both are avoidable with care, and neither is recoverable with a file — auger blades are replaced rather than sharpened at home.
Put the blade guard on every single time. The guard exists to stop the blades touching anything in the sled, and it is the cheapest maintenance there is.
What goes with it
A skimmer. Every hole fills with slush the moment you stop drilling, and you cannot fish through it.
Ice cleats and a spud bar. Our ice thickness and safety page covers why a spud bar is a safety item and not a tool.
Something to fish with. Our ice rods page, ice reels page and ice jigs page cover the end of the line, and our ice electronics page covers finding fish before you drill twenty holes looking for them.
So what do I actually buy?
Eight inches unless your water holds lake trout. Electric unless you fish thick late-season ice all day, and a hand auger as a backup or a first purchase.
StrikeMaster Lithium 40v Ice Auger
$499.998 in at 24 lb, 100 published holes per charge, brushless. Starts every time.
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 12, 2026
Ugly Stik GX2 Ice Spinning Rod (28 in Medium)
$36.99The other end of the hole. 28 in medium, published at 4-8 lb.
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 12, 2026
Garmin STRIKER 4
$139.99A flasher-capable sonar so you drill where the fish are rather than everywhere.
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 12, 2026
The picks, in full
Every card below lists the specs we could read off a published page, the URL they came from, and one honest reason you might not want it.
1. Best ice auger
StrikeMaster Lithium 40v Ice Auger
StrikeMaster
8 in at 24 lb or 10 in at 27 lb, 40-volt 5 Ah lithium, brushless motor, published at 100 holes per charge through 16 in of ice.
The published holes-per-charge figure is the one that decides whether an electric auger works for you: 100 holes with the 8 in through 16 in of ice. Nobody drills 100 holes in a day, which means one battery covers a full outing with margin.
A brushless DC motor with a published 15.9:1 planetary gear reduction is why it manages that. Brushless motors waste less energy as heat and need no brush service, and the planetary reduction trades motor speed for the torque that actually cuts ice.
24 lb for the 8 in model is the figure to weigh against a gas auger. It is not light, but it is one piece, it starts every time in the cold, and there is no fuel mix to carry or spill in a sled.
Twin serrated stainless Lazer blades are published rather than a single curved blade. Serrated blades bite into wet slush and refrozen holes better, which is the situation that stops a dull auger dead.
The published 2 1/2 hour charge time on the 2-amp station means a battery charged overnight is ready, and a second battery is the obvious upgrade if you fish with a group drilling for everyone.
The drawback
Lithium capacity drops in the cold, and the published 100-hole figure is stated for repeated tests through 16 in of ice — late-season ice at 30 in will cut that substantially, and StrikeMaster does not publish a figure for it. There is no published overall length, which matters when you are trying to fit it in a sled. And the 2-year warranty covers motor, battery and charger but a battery is a consumable: it is the part that will eventually need replacing, and it is the expensive part.
Published specs
- Diameters
- 8 in and 10 in
- Weight
- 24 lb (8 in), 27 lb (10 in)
- Battery
- 40-volt, 5 amp-hour lithium ion
- Motor
- Electric DC brushless
- Gearing
- Planetary, 15.9:1
- Blades
- Twin serrated stainless steel Lazer blades
- Holes per charge
- 100 with the 8 in, 70 with the 10 in, through 16 in of ice
- Charger
- 2-amp station, full charge in 2 1/2 hours
- Warranty
- Limited 2-year on motor, battery and charger
Specs read from StrikeMaster - Lithium 40v Auger.
#ad how this is funded · price as of October 12, 2026
Questions people actually ask
What size ice auger should I buy?
8 inches covers panfish, walleye, bass and most pike. Go to 10 inches only if your water holds lake trout or genuinely large pike — it costs you 3 lb of carry and 30% of the holes per charge.
Is an electric ice auger better than gas?
For most anglers now, yes. No fuel mix, no starting drill in the cold, far quieter, and one charge covers a day. Gas still wins for all-day drilling through very thick late-season ice.
How many holes will an electric auger drill on one charge?
StrikeMaster publishes 100 holes with the 8 in and 70 with the 10 in, through 16 in of ice. Thicker ice and cold batteries both reduce that, and no figure is published for those conditions.
Can I use a cordless drill with an ice auger?
Yes, with a drill adapter and an auger bit. It is the cheapest way into powered drilling and it is slower and harder on the drill than a purpose-built auger with a brushless motor and gear reduction.
Read next
Sources
Prices on this page come from the retailer at request time and change without notice. If we cannot get a live one we say “check price” rather than show you a number that has gone stale. How we pick.