Bait Rolling Time
Although buying boilies ready rolled is very popular be it frozen or shelf-lifes there still is a place for rolling your own bait and to be honest if most of us had the time we probably would. From Terry Hearn to Dave Lane, Peter Springate to myself we have all rolled our own baits at some time and still do from time to time when testing new ingredients from Nutrabaits. Although ready rolled baits are great the advantage of making your own bait is that you have 100% freedom over their make up. Size, shape, colour, taste, flavour the lot. The skies the limit and often a bait you have made yourself specifically for a water will be a lot more effective than one you have picked off the shelf or out of the freezer. So without further ado lets look at making your own bait this year. and maybe in the future as well.
Step 1 - Firstly and maybe most importantly make sure you are properly sited to ensure trouble free bait making. You need to be in a place where you can devote yourself to the task in hand and not have to stop to allow people to make cups of coffee etc. Do not be distracted by tv and the like until you really have mastered it. Also ensure your hands are clean. I use water only as I do not want washing up liquid or soap smells on my hands. Ensure you dry your hands on a towel which does not have perfume or such like on it.
Step 2 - Now make sure you have a recipe or idea for a bait you are comfortable with. All the Nutrabaits base mixes come with recommended combinations and although you can deviate from those it is a good idea to start with to keep to a proven combination even if you do maybe alter colour, size and shape.
The ones we recommend are proven and really will produce you the goods. Have them written down in order and keep to them. To get you started you can find some of my favourite recipes at the bottom of the page.
Step 3 - With your recipe chosen ensure you have all the ingredients you need and enough of them. That's obviously the base mix and also possibly colour, flavours, sweetners, bulk food liquids and so on. They must be fresh and not over twelve months old. All done?
Step 4 - Now check that you have the gear to make them. You will need eggs, a fork, large wooden spoon, a syringe or measuring spoon to measure liquids or maybe a pipette. Also you are best off investing in a rolling table and Rolaball boilie maker. These are available from a number of companies but Gardner tackle do the best ones I have seen in all sizes from 10mm right up to 24mm. So whatever size of bait you want to produce ensure you have a table and Rolaball to match. If you have any doubts then check out Gardner which has all their bait rolling equipment on and tips on how to use them.
You will also need a large mixing bowl which you can get anywhere and a few sturdy plastic bags. I also have a small set of weighing scales which you can get from any general store. These allow me to weigh the base mix. Also you need a pan to boil the boilies in and a sieve to lift them out of the water with. You need a watch or clock with an easily readable second hand on it.
Step 5 - All Nutrabaits mixes that come with a list of recipes are calculated in 5 egg mixes. The eggs you need to use are size 2 and are as fresh as I can get. Do not use old out of date eggs as they could ruin your boilie right from the start which is not clever. Get the eggs and crack all five into the mixing bowl and place the egg shells in the bin. Get your strong stiff fork and beat or whisk those eggs until all you have is a lovely yellow liquid like thin gravy in thickness.
Step 6 - Most of the recipes recommend about 18 ounces of base mix per five egg mix but I find it can vary from 16-22 ounces dependent on how big your eggs are and how much liquid you additionally add such as Salmon Oil, G-Force, Nutramino etc. What I do is measure 20 ounces of base mix and put it in a plastic bag. This is given a good shake to ensure it is correctly spread.
Step 7 - Take a look at your recipe and consider what the ingredients are. As a general rule of thumb;
If it is dry like a powder (colour, seaweed, GLME, Betaine etc) it goes into the base mix.
If it is a liquid (flavour, bulk food liquid, essential oil etc ) it goes in with the eggs.
Step 8 - Add the liquids carefully to the eggs and once they are all in whisk again with that fork to ensure even distribution.
Step 9 - Add the dry powders to the base mix in the plastic bag, inflate the bag with your mouth and twist it to seal the air in. Now really shake it for at least one minute to ensure all the powders blend in with the base mix.
Step 10 - Get about half of the base mix and pour it into the liquid. Now get your fork and whisk again. It will become firmer but still very whisk able with that fork. Keep adding base mix from the plastic bag until the mix becomes very firm and almost impossible to whisk. Ensuring that your hands are clean add more base mix and use your own hands to knead the paste as it gets firmer and firmer.
Step 11 - The obvious question is how stiff should the paste be? Well really that is a matter of trial and error but Nutrabaits base mixes are made for rolling and tend not to dry out. I find that once the paste is so firm that it does not stick to my hands it is perfect.
If you end up using all the base mix from the plastic bag add a little more from the plain base mix to firm up the paste. It will not really affect your baits attractiveness. Occasionally I will wash my hands to get rid of any paste residue but in time and with practice getting the right amount in will be dead easy.
Step 12 - Once you have made the ball of paste pop it into another plastic bag to stop it drying out.
Now clear all the bait making equipment away to one side so you have plenty of space to roll them out.
Step 13 - Take a piece of paste between the size of a small egg to tangerine (dependant on how big you are rolling them) and roll it slightly in your hands to get a semi-sausage shape. Place the correct size Gardner Sausage Rolling Table over it and roll it back and forward three or four times. This will compress the sausage to the right diameter for your Gardner Rolaball of the same size.
If you are planning on rolling a lot of baits or making them into different sizes then I would suggest you use the Gardner Sausage Gun as it is a lot faster to create the sausages using the gun and it also has interchangeable nozzles which enable you to create different sized sausages quickly and very easily.
Step 14 - Take the sausage you have produced and place it on top of the correct Rolaball to match the rolling table. 18mm table to 18mm Rolaball etc. Roll it back and forwards three or four times and lift it up. hey presto a line of perfectly round boilies. Tip them onto a clean towel and repeat steps 13 and 14 once again until you have done all your boilies.
In time you will be able to do more than one line of baits at a time on top of the Rolaball but until you have got into the swing of it a line at a time is perfect. You can also experiment using a smaller table and larger Rolaball to produce different sized baits and vive versa. But get the texture, consistency and rolling action spot on before you experiment.
Step 15 - With all the paste rolled move the table and Rolaball out of the way. Fill your saucepan about two thirds full with water and bring it to the boil. Once and only once it is boiling put the sieve in and drop in a handful of the paste balls. I find a large handful is enough dependent on the size of baits. If you put too many in the water temperature will drop and ruin the boiling time. Also if you cannot stir them round you are going to find they glue together.
Step 16 - Note the exact time you place them in the pan and boil them for exactly the time your recipe states. Usually this is 90 seconds but it can be between 60-120 seconds in some cases. As they are boiling gently spoon them round with the wooden spoon keeping the water on the boil and ladling the water round. If you are making your own boilies without a pre-made recipe then a good way to know when your baits are ready is when they start to float.
Step 17 - Once the baits have had their time lift the sieve up and shake the boilies onto the towel.
Once they are on the town gently move them round with your hand. I use a tea towel rather than a thick hand towel.
Step 18 - Repeat the boiling with all your baits keeping the water on the boil and not over or under boiling them.
Once you have done them all clean all your equipment and put it away with the recipe to make it again.
Step 19 - Once all the baits have been rolled and cooled I leave them to harden for about two hours and then freeze them in my chest freezer.
Be careful when your freeze them because even though they are boiled if you crush them together they will freeze out of shape and not catapult so far.
Step 20 - And it really is that easy my friends. Here are some additional tips to make your bait making even easier and more effective.
- Make your baits in a cool place so they do not dry out
- Never rush your bait making
- Whatever recipe you use write it down and keep it in a safe place
- Keep your base mixes, liquids and powders in a dry cool place
- Find a good source for your eggs and stick to it
- Always keep your hands clean and smell free and the same goes for the equipment
Good luck and happy bait rolling.
Julian Cundiff
Suggested recipes
- 500g 50/50 Mix
- 20ml Nutramino
- 6ml Cranberry Nutrafruit
- 2ml Sweetener
- 2g Betaine HCI
- 5 Eggs
- 500g Enervite Gold
- 20ml Multimino
- 2g Creamy SuperSweet
- 4ml Strawberry Nutrafruit
- 4ml Cream Elite
- 4 drops Bergamot Oil
- 1ml Sweet Cajouser
- 5 Eggs
- 500g Four Seasons Mix
- 20ml Multimino
- 6ml Cream Elite
- 2ml Cream Cajouser
- 2g Betaine HCI
- 5 Eggs
- 500g Big Fish Mix
- 20ml Nutramino
- 20ml Salmon Oil
- 5ml Caviar UTCS
- 10 Drops Black Pepper Oil
- 4g Green Lipped Mussel Extract
- 5 Eggs
- 500g Trigga
- 20 ml Liquid Trigga
- 2g Green Lipped Mussel Extract
- 5 Eggs
- 500g G-Force
- 20ml Liquid G-Force
- 4ml Cheese Elite
- 2g Betaine HCI
- 5 Eggs
Follow the link for Sausage Guns.
Follow the link for Boilie Rolling Tables.
Follow the link for Sausage Rolling Tables.
Follow the link for Air Dry Bags.
Follow the link for Air Dry Trays
View the Bait Making Video for some great Hints and Tips..
