Stupid Question???

[Fishfinder]

K, I don't ice fish - yet ( working on gathering gear), anyways this may be a stupid question but hey that's what public forums are for right
Has anyone ever caught a fish while ice fishing that was simply to large to fit through the hole?? And if so...then what...

[WayneChristie]

dude, if I cant get a fish thru my 8 inch hole, I dont want to handle it!!!! it would be Jaws!!!!!!!

[fallen1817]

I have seen a few videos of a fellow who catches a rather fat musky out east, and he rolls up his sleeve, grabs it under the gills and just pulls it through with force. I'll try to find the video.

-Jeff

[Fishfinder]

what about a 6 incher hole, it's gotta have happened to someone no??

[tchow]

Had a bud a couple of years ago at Sylvan. Ice was really thick and bottoming out on the Augers. He had an 8" hole and hooked into a huge Gator. Fought the fish for about 15 minutes and darn fish would not turn up the hole. I even tried to turn the fish up with the handle of a Shovel with no luck.
Fish took off on another run and eventually got off the hook. Saw the head, and she was a big one. Unfortunately the fish did not want to cooperate and turn up the hole..
I got the Stealth with a 10" blade so that gives me abit more leeway to turn a big fish up the hole.
She's still out there for someone else to catch

I saw a 36 lb pike caught that just barely fit through an 8'' hole (took some serious tugging to get the fish through, girth was near 30''). As for 6'' holes, i was targeting whites last weekend and had a trout that did not fit through the hole very well (i was being lazy, left the gas auger at home as it was a considerable walk). I think i could have got him to squeeze through if he was hooked a bit better but the way it worked out, he's still down there. For most lakes 6'' is all you need. There are other lakes (pike and a few trout lakes as well) where 8'' is the smallest i'd be interested in using.

[Dougie55]

I actually had that happen at Smoke Lake many years ago. I was perch fishing with small minnows, and using a 6 inch hole. I do not know why, but had a large pike hit my lure. Fought with it for a long time, and could not get it's head and body into the hole. I had a buddy with me that had a power auger, and he managed to cut a hole beside mine that sort of cleaved mine. Man did that auger bounce a lot as it chewed through. Anyway, managed to ice the pike, via the bigger hole, and to this day it is my largest pike. Weighed in at just over 32 lb. I will try and find the old photo and copy it if I can...

[Fishfinder]

Cool. I knew there were some stories out there. Got a 6incher foe Xmas. Can't wait!
Cheers n thx for sharing!

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Fishfinder

K, I don't ice fish - yet ( working on gathering gear), anyways this may be a stupid question but hey that's what public forums are for right
Has anyone ever caught a fish while ice fishing that was simply to large to fit through the hole?? And if so...then what...

Just make sure to hang on to your pole real tight..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKuG5NDYbOA

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

dude, if I cant get a fish thru my 8 inch hole, I dont want to handle it!!!! it would be Jaws!!!!!!!

Not so far fetched. There was the case of 2 women, who latched onto a 10 ft. Greenland Shark, on a frozen bay, in Quebec.

Grizz

[Jack&7]

30+ years ago, my dad caught a 17 lb. pike on a river by our farm back in MB. Big damn fish considering there wasn't more than 18" of water below the ice! Same as others have said, he couldn't get the fish turned easily but after a while, got the head and half the body out but then Mr. Pike got stuck...it was an 6-8 inch hole. It wasn't nice and clean like we have now with augers...they chipped it out with a chisel!

After struggling for a bit to get this thing out, he finally had to give the fish a size 10 boot in the ribs while he pulled and he popped right out. Left a nice boot mark on the side of the fish and I still smile when I see that thing mounted up on the wall.

So that is why I never fish with anything less than an 8 inch auger. Since I don't have a power auger, the 8 is about all I can handle by hand after drilling a half dozen holes in this 16 inches of ice. It's a bit of a workout!

[WayneChristie]

I dont know what a 10 inch manual would be like, the 8 is all I want to handle, thats why I pick a good spot and stay put most of the time Cant believe I pulled 14 pike out of 1 hole Sunday, and the other 2 out of the second hole I finally drilled in the tent later. they must have lined up or something

[Wulfespirit]

99.9% of the time, an 8 inch hole will be more than enough. Careful with 10 inch holes if there are young children around.

[ULTRAlite]

Witnessed an 18lber come out of a 6" hole last January. Was a chore getting the head lined up, but it came up and went back down. Tight fit though. As Wulfespirit said 99.9% of the time 8" would be plenty. 10" are nicer in really thick ice and when sight fishing.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Fishfinder

K, I don't ice fish - yet ( working on gathering gear), anyways this may be a stupid question but hey that's what public forums are for right
Has anyone ever caught a fish while ice fishing that was simply to large to fit through the hole?? And if so...then what...

I caught a pike so big it would not fit up the hole at Lac St. Anne.

I let the line free spool and drilled two more holes to make a triangle with my first hole. Then kicked out the plug and pulled in the pike.

That was the only way to do it. That being said in 30 years of ice fishing it happened then and with a big fat bellied burbot. The burbot eventually squeezed up the hole with the help of a gaff.

We are seeing trout being unable to be brought up a 5 or 6 inch hole. I am release them anyways so just reaching down and pulling the hook out.

Hope that helps.

Sun

[bisonhunter]

we pulled these two trout out of a hole no bigger than 6". i drilled them with an 8" blade but they froze overnight. i had to pull pretty hard, but they both popped through, both over 30lbs