Ignoramus;

A pry bar is not a good way to cut through ice for a few reasons.
First, it's heavy and awkward to use. Secondly, you normally have to
make a much 'larger hole' in order at the onset in order to get you 8"
hole at the bottom. The ice hole that is created with such a tool
also creates HUGE chunks of sharp ice edges and you WILL easily cut
your line on those edges.

Ice augers can be found at places like BASS PRO or Wal-Mart for as
little as $30 or $40 bucks. The Normark augers have nice sharp blades
and I can get through 22" of ice in less than a minute or two. Also,
if you have a decent drill (250+ foot pounds) you can buy a simple
attachment that connects to the auger and you can drill quite a few
holes that only take about 8 to 10 seconds to get through the ice. So
all in all, it's not expensive to get through just about 'any'
thickness of ice

Fish in Many 'Heavily Iced' areas are easily attracted to sunlight
that appears when a hole is cut completely through the ice.. Compound
this with a body of water that has 'Very Little' fishing pressure and
you'll have some very eager and inquisitive fish. This phenomena
'rarely' occurs on a lake or body of water that is 'Heavily Fished'.
Also, the probability of fish at the 'Top' of the hole (surface of the
water) is EXTREMELY rare and is likely a result of a 'Larger'
predatory fish that has pushed a 'School of Fish' to the surface, thus
trapping some of them into the hole. Once inside the hole and
depending on the size of the fish, they will very quickly lose their
'bearings' and remain in the hole until they can escape.

Check with your 'Fishing Regulations' for your area before using Bait,
or Chumming the water! Use of any one of these methods can ABSOLUTELY
ruin your day, week or Month depending on the 'FINE' that you might
receive for doing using the former when it is 'not allowed'. Where I
live, the fines can be quite severe and as such, they are NOT limited
to the confiscation of ALL your Fishing Equipment, you CAR/TRUCK and
even your BOAT! So indeed, be aware...

Lake Baikal can will sometimes not freeze completely until
February... It depends on 'how cold' the Winters are and how quickly
them come. Having said that, sometimes the lake is frozen before the
middle of December! Ice thickness' vary, but it's not uncommon to
find 5' of black ice (very strong ice) so bring a 'decent auger'.

Oh Yeah,... The Sky is MUCH BLUER in places like this due to FAR, FAR
less pollution. From what I know, Dust isn't much of an obstruction
unless you live in or near a desert or 'desert-like' environment....

Cheers,