• You need to be a registered member of Barbel Fishing World to post on these forums. Some of the forums are hidden from non-members. Please refer to the instructions on the ‘Register’ page for details of how to join the new incarnation of BFW...

My 1st attempt at making bait

Julian Griffiths

Julian Griffiths

Senior Member & Supporter
Hi. Just wanted to share my 1st attempt at making my own baits.
Hopefully they'll work. Gives you a great boost of confidence whilst making them.😊
IMG_20211009_171905.jpg
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Hi. Just wanted to share my 1st attempt at making my own baits.
Hopefully they'll work. Gives you a great boost of confidence whilst making them.😊 View attachment 16579
Click to expand...
They look good Julian.
One thing I will say as a fellow bait maker .. no need to make them so perfectly round.
As barbel anglers we tend not to use many boilies and rollers are unnecessary for the odd 1 or 2 egg mix.
Give em some shapes that they haven’t seen much before like cylinders or cubes etc.
It makes your bait that little bit different to the guy that was in the swim yesterday. 👍🏻
 
Richard Isaacs said:
They look good Julian.
One thing I will say as a fellow bait maker .. no need to make them so perfectly round.
As barbel anglers we tend not to use many boilies and rollers are unnecessary for the odd 1 or 2 egg mix.
Give em some shapes that they haven’t seen much before like cylinders or cubes etc.
It makes your bait that little bit different to the guy that was in the swim yesterday. 👍🏻
Click to expand...
Again. Brilliant tip!
Did do a few different sized sticks.
I just had so many things going on, with new Furnace etc, so just wanted to get a trial batch done, to see how I coped. 👍
 
Richard Isaacs said:
They look good Julian.
One thing I will say as a fellow bait maker .. no need to make them so perfectly round.
As barbel anglers we tend not to use many boilies and rollers are unnecessary for the odd 1 or 2 egg mix.
Give em some shapes that they haven’t seen much before like cylinders or cubes etc.
It makes your bait that little bit different to the guy that was in the swim yesterday. 👍🏻
Click to expand...
Richard. If different sizes shapes etc were done in one batch say. Would you just forget the timer, and boil them till they started to float? (indicating their cooked)
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Richard. If different sizes shapes etc were done in one batch say. Would you just forget the timer, and boil them till they started to float? (indicating their cooked)
Click to expand...
Hi Julian, I don’t boil mine till they float and I will use different cook times for different sizes as the worst thing you can do is cook the life out of them.
I’m a big fan of the 18-20mm size usually in a cylindrical shape. For these I boil for 1 min and 25 seconds. That leaves me with a firm crust bait that’s still soft and paste like in the center.
If I need something firmer for longer in the water I don’t adjust the cook time, I use 2 tee spoons (per egg) of egg albumen powder and air dry for afew hours before they go in the fridge. This still keeps the centre paste like but the outer shell is much firmer.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Hi Julian, I don’t boil mine till they float and I will use different cook times for different sizes as the worst thing you can do is cook the life out of them.
I’m a big fan of the 18-20mm size usually in a cylindrical shape. For these I boil for 1 min and 25 seconds. That leaves me with a firm crust bait that’s still soft and paste like in the center.
If I need something firmer for longer in the water I don’t adjust the cook time, I use 2 tee spoons (per egg) of egg albumen powder and air dry for afew hours before they go in the fridge. This still keeps the centre paste like but the outer shell is much firmer.
Click to expand...
Cheers for the heads up on that Richard, happy to learn more from you guys!

I did mine for 1min 15 and a skin has formed, and the centre is still relatively dark. So am confident they've not been over cooked.
With the left over base mix powder, I just made up the paste with adjusted low levels of flavour, and will add a smear to all my hookbaits for good leak off. 😊
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Cheers for the heads up on that Richard, happy to learn more from you guys!

I did mine for 1min 15 and a skin has formed, and the centre is still relatively dark. So am confident they've not been over cooked.
With the left over base mix powder, I just made up the paste with adjusted low levels of flavour, and will add a smear to all my hookbaits for good leak off. 😊
Click to expand...
Sounds like perfect bait to me. Nice job
 
I remember the first fish I had on my first home made boillies. I was doing some stalking for carp and had lowered a 5 boilie stringer into the margins and lay my rod in the floor. After a few mins I saw a few fish moving in and couldn’t remember if I’d put the bait runner on or not as I wasn’t sure what way up or down the switch should be for it and didn’t want to knock the rod tweaking the line to find out as the fish were right over my bait so I loosened the clutch up a bit instead. Next thing I know the rod tip pulls round and I just grab the rod and strike harder than I needed to anyway and the line just flew off the reel as the runner was on and the clutch was loose. Without thinking I’d started reeling and instantly birds nested my reel up locking it up solid. Had to play the fish like a fly rod pulling the line in by hand. A couple of times the fish went on a run and I just managed to stop it with about a foot of line left. Somehow managed to land it and it turned out to be my 3rd biggest fish at the time. Was only 18lb odd but a memorable catch
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Great tip. I'll try that next time.
Would it be same boiling times Alan? 👍
Click to expand...
I haven’t done it for a while but used to boil some in cling film until they floated so we’re a bit harder - these went on the hair with a paste wrap. Then some were booked in cling film until they had formed a skin but were still pliable…with these I would gently press into various ‘pillow’ shapes as freebies. Worked for me, Barbel and Chub. Now got the urge to buy some more JBaker gear and make some more🤔
 
Made my first batch of homemade bait - much as Richard suggests; kind of a stick chopped into ovals or cubes and then boiled. Caught a chub Friday night though blanked with barbel. I figure if a chub will take it a barbel will too. So........success!

Does anyone use components other than John Baker?
 
Alan Palmer said:
I haven’t done it for a while but used to boil some in cling film until they floated so we’re a bit harder - these went on the hair with a paste wrap. Then some were booked in cling film until they had formed a skin but were still pliable…with these I would gently press into various ‘pillow’ shapes as freebies. Worked for me, Barbel and Chub. Now got the urge to buy some more JBaker gear and make some more🤔
Click to expand...
That last sentence is great. And it doesn't take long at all, once you have everything to hand. 👍
 
Jon Young said:
I remember the first fish I had on my first home made boillies. I was doing some stalking for carp and had lowered a 5 boilie stringer into the margins and lay my rod in the floor. After a few mins I saw a few fish moving in and couldn’t remember if I’d put the bait runner on or not as I wasn’t sure what way up or down the switch should be for it and didn’t want to knock the rod tweaking the line to find out as the fish were right over my bait so I loosened the clutch up a bit instead. Next thing I know the rod tip pulls round and I just grab the rod and strike harder than I needed to anyway and the line just flew off the reel as the runner was on and the clutch was loose. Without thinking I’d started reeling and instantly birds nested my reel up locking it up solid. Had to play the fish like a fly rod pulling the line in by hand. A couple of times the fish went on a run and I just managed to stop it with about a foot of line left. Somehow managed to land it and it turned out to be my 3rd biggest fish at the time. Was only 18lb odd but a memorable catch
Click to expand...
Great story!
Alan Palmer said:
I haven’t done it for a while but used to boil some in cling film until they floated so we’re a bit harder - these went on the hair with a paste wrap. Then some were booked in cling film until they had formed a skin but were still pliable…with these I would gently press into various ‘pillow’ shapes as freebies. Worked for me, Barbel and Chub. Now got the urge to buy some more JBaker gear and make some more🤔
Click to expand...
I do like the idea of boiling to a point where a light skin has formed, to then side hook the baits as opposed to hair rigging...
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Hi. Just wanted to share my 1st attempt at making my own baits.
Hopefully they'll work. Gives you a great boost of confidence whilst making the
Click to expand...

They look great Julian, like baked russet apples! I tend to boil the mix in flat squares and have a result more like a cake or slices of bait. You can very the thickness of the bait and tear or cut off whatever size you choose, both for freebies and hook baits. As others have said, no real need for round baits unless you are trying to catapult them out. This year I've been mostly carp fishing a small pool and the home made bait clearly out fishes the shop bought. Having said that, the home made bait is sometimes out fished by luncheon meat! But it is very satisfying to catch on your own home made efforts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top