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Making your own bait.

Just had a look at the BAF site - definitely food for thought (and catching barbel). I'm in two minds about continuing to roll my own, as I'm fishing very low density stretches of river, and really only manage twenty five sessions a season, or thereabouts. Furthermore, the rivers are 70-80 miles away, so little chance of establishing a food source. I've had a little success on JB basemixes and flavours and, as said by others, a two egg mix is quick and easy enough to put together, but I'm not sure if that's enough to carry on over, say, buying a good quality frozen bait.

I should add that I'm very impressed with everyone's (on this thread) sense of enterprise!
 
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My mate is off to his syndicate again this week. His latest efforts.
 
Richard Parsons said:
Just had a look at the BAF site - definitely food for thought (and catching barbel). I'm in two minds about continuing to roll my own, as I'm fishing very low density stretches of river, and really only manage twenty five sessions a season, or thereabouts. Furthermore, the rivers are 70-80 miles away, so little chance of establishing a food source. I've had a little success on JB basemixes and flavours and, as said by others, a two egg mix is quick and easy enough to put together, but I'm not sure if that's enough to carry on over, say, buying a good quality frozen bait.

I should add that I'm very impressed with everyone's (on this thread) sense of enterprise!
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I'm always tempted to come away from making my own & to buy shop brought, and I do have a local shop that makes their own baits close by too. But I enjoy making my own little mixs as that's all part of what I enjoy in my fishing.

But I've got to be honest, some of my best fish have often fallen to either cheese paste, I've caught big barbel on large lumps of bread in the past, or pepperoni. 🤣
 
Has anyone in the past made their homemades with pure egg whites as opposed to whole egg?
 
Damian Kimmins said:
Has anyone in the past made their homemades with pure egg whites as opposed to whole egg?
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Not personally, did consider buying the powedered egg albumen you can get from boilie ingredient sellers but fresh eggs work out cheaper, and there's goodness (vits + minerals) in the yolks that i can't really think of a reason why i'd exclude them.

Vitamins in eggs, minerals in eggs | Official egg info UK

Find out about vitamins and minerals in eggs here.
www.egginfo.co.uk www.egginfo.co.uk
 
Kevin Brown said:
I got told just using egg whites makes a harder bait , not tried it though .
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I beleive that is the case.

I've been told 10% inclusion rates of egg albumen to whatever weighed amount of base mix by my supplier.

Then give finished baits a 6 to 12hrs air drying time thereafter.

If trying to deter attentions from cray fish I was told good luck with that, as the hardened hook baits will still succumb to these critters. If left in the swim long enough.
 
Julian Griffiths said:
I beleive that is the case.

I've been told 10% inclusion rates of egg albumen to whatever weighed amount of base mix by my supplier.

Then give finished baits a 6 to 12hrs air drying time thereafter.

If trying to deter attentions from cray fish I was told good luck with that, as the hardened hook baits will still succumb to these critters. If left in the swim long enough.
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I use 5% so 50g to 1kg
 
I think that it skins baits better that you can reduce cooking times increasing leakage.
 
Simon Archer said:
Is it worth it ??

My Carp fishing friend is going to start making some hook baits for himself and it's got me thinking of having a go myself, but not really sure it's worth it though. I don't use many boilies a season. I'm already up to £100 in my basket on John Bakers website. Trouble is, I have to do things right, I can't just roll a few sausages out and cut them up on the worktop, I'll end up getting the whole kit, I know I will, I always do.

A bag of off the shelf boilies isn't that expensive, less work and more than enough for me for the season. I understand it must be magic to catch a fish on home made bait, but I can see myself becoming a little obsessive with it.

Is it worth it ??
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The problem ( if you perceive it as one) with many shelf life baits is they are very tough and and some are hard. Making your own can give you great confidence on difficult waters once you have had some success. You can also tailor them to your own personal preference in size and texture. As to whether they are better. Hard one to answer. Those that make their own swear they are but plenty of successful anglers don't bother. Ready made freezer bait is a good option if you have access to a freezer. I make my own but generally only a couple of egg mix. I then also take shelf life's as a back up. A good shelf life is the Dynamite Krab and Krill. Not at all hard and the Barbel really do like them I find.
 
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Decided not to bother rolling small baits anymore , not sure of any advantages on a river .
So I simply extrude through a bait gun with a 16 mm nozzle and cut into blocks or pillows as some home rollers call them .
Advantages are it’s lots quicker , bait comes out more open course in texture, easily trimable to suit length of hair and leaves a nice paste centre.
It’s not going to roll away in a current as easily as a round ball , plus it’s different to thousands of small boilies being thrown in .
Here’s a six egg mix I knocked out in about 40 mins , enough for 6 evenings fishing .

OCD home rollers look away now 🤣
 
Kevin Brown said:
View attachment 30320View attachment 30321View attachment 30322Decided not to bother rolling small baits anymore , not sure of any advantages on a river .
So I simply extrude through a bait gun with a 16 mm nozzle and cut into blocks or pillows as some home rollers call them .
Advantages are it’s lots quicker , bait comes out more open course in texture, easily trimable to suit length of hair and leaves a nice paste centre.
It’s not going to roll away in a current as easily as a round ball , plus it’s different to thousands of small boilies being thrown in .
Here’s a six egg mix I knocked out in about 40 mins , enough for 6 evenings fishing .

OCD home rollers look away now 🤣
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Pretty much the same with me but I also vary the sizes..not sure it matters but bit of a confidence thing
 
Something I did, when making boilies in 3 egg mixes was; instead of boiling, i steamed nstead. For me it made a far more attractive bait. Just a cheap steamer that had water at the bottom and heated via a gas ring.
 
Jon Frisby said:
Something I did, when making boilies in 3 egg mixes was; instead of boiling, i steamed nstead. For me it made a far more attractive bait. Just a cheap steamer that had water at the bottom and heated via a gas ring.
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Yeah I looked into steaming but the longer cook times seem to negate the more aggressive boiling method .
Reading around in the home rolling community the jury is still out it seems on which is best .
I boiled these for a minute which still leaves a nice soft paste on the inside , something I was keen to have in the finished bait .
Plus I can always tinker with it soon as I start fishing with it .
 
Kevin Brown said:
Yeah I looked into steaming but the longer cook times seem to negate the more aggressive boiling method .
Reading around in the home rolling community the jury is still out it seems on which is best .
I boiled these for a minute which still leaves a nice soft paste on the inside , something I was keen to have in the finished bait .
Plus I can always tinker with it soon as I start fishing with it .
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That’s how I like mine. Soft paste centers
 
If you roll the sausages and then cook those whole; it saves even more time and you can then cut them up/slice to suit on the day.

There is also even more uncooked surface area so even more leak off…..

Also thin sausages (eg 8mm) cut and fished as long, thin baits work brilliantly.

Disclaimer: tactic(s) from my carp fishing days decades ago, I use frozen bought bait for barbel.
 
Tim Marks said:
If you roll the sausages and then cook those whole; it saves even more time and you can then cut them up/slice to suit on the day.

There is also even more uncooked surface area so even more leak off…..

Also thin sausages (eg 8mm) cut and fished as long, thin baits work brilliantly.

Disclaimer: tactic(s) from my carp fishing days decades ago, I use frozen bought bait for barbel.
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I actually did this on the first batch , but I was worried about the attention of smaller fish on the un skinned part , but as always with making your own bait I can suck it and see and see how things go .
Plus I can always cut the end of the ones I pre cut before boiling

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