An Ice Fishing Accessory that Takes the
Work out of Ice Fishing
As any avid ice angler out
there might agree, it's not so much the drilling of the holes
that bothers us...it's the lugging, and I do mean lugging, of
our power ice augers.
You carry your bait bucket and traps with little or no effort
from hole to hole. But, we lug our power ice auger. After
lugging ice augers for quite a few seasons, I thought there had
to be a better way.
How many times had I been on the ice in about a foot of snow,
on top of five inches of slush, lugging my ice auger
from spot to spot. So, one
day, this out of shape, gasping for breath, 51-year-old
man looked for a buddy to lug it for me. The response
that I got from my friends was, "Hey Craig, seeing how
you got your ice auger all warmed up, can you pop a few
holes in over there for me" (ring any bells?).
I started thinking then and there of making my own buddy, and
that's how I came up with the Auger Buddy™. I built and tested
my Auger Buddy™ prototype in out of the way places until I got
my patent pending on it at the start of 2004.
During 2004, I worked at developing and fine tuning the Auger
Buddy™ to make it as user friendly as possible. I knew there
were a lot of ice anglers like me that were tired of lugging
their ice augers.
I wanted the Auger Buddy™ to be light weight (less than 20
lbs), strong (welded steel tubing), and having fast assembly
(under 3 minutes). I designed it to collapse and fit into the
trunk of a small car (since not everyone owns a truck, SUV, or
van). I wanted it to be extremely stable, even in strong winds.
On Lake Winnipesaukee last year, I used the Auger Buddy™ during
steady winds blowing at 30 mph and gusting to over 50, with no
problems.
I made the Auger Buddy™ snow and ice glides (the skis) out of a
strong, but light weight, plastic. They need no waxing and they
glide effortlessly across snow and ice. I gave the Auger Buddy™
a wide and long footprint for stability and to allow the Auger
Buddy™ to glide over the snow effortlessly without sinking
in.
I wanted manufacturers from the good old USA to build my
product (even though a lot of people said I could save money on
assembly if I had it made overseas). Parts are made by
manufacturers in MA, ME, NH, and OH.
Now for the best part of the Auger Buddy™.....NO TOOLS NEEDED
FOR ASSEMBLY!
So my fellow ice anglers, you now know why I invented and built
the Auger Buddy™ the way I did. I was simply tired of lugging
my auger.
It doesn't matter how we get our equipment to our favorite
fishing spots. Whether its by snowmobile, ATV (when ice is safe
for them), pulling a sled, or in some cases hoisting it on our
shoulders to save space in sleds...after we get out there, we
grab the ice auger and start lugging. With the Auger Buddy™,
the days of lugging are over for me, and they could be for you.
Why lug it all day, when your Auger Buddy ™ will lug it for
you?
If any ice-fishermen out there has questions or would like more
information on the new Auger
Buddy™, please feel free to e-mail me
at cbouchard@augerbuddy.com
.
Your fellow New England Ice Fisherman,
Craig Bouchard
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