| Making your own secret catfish or carp baits is | | | | majority of anglers slavishly use predominantly these |
| exciting and fun! It can result in catches you only ever | | | | days; doing this is well worthwhile; how many carp |
| dreamt of! | | | | don't see perfectly round shaped boilies these days |
| But many fishermen resist making their own baits. | | | | and don't know how to avoid the hook where these |
| Unfortunately, they give up before they have even | | | | are used most frequently? |
| started. This is due to having been given the false | | | | Never forget that we anglers are training the carp to |
| impression that it's to complicated, and that it's only for | | | | danger when we really need to keep re-educating |
| expert fishermen, when the reverse is true! | | | | them into thinking what we are offering them is safe! |
| In fact, when you make good homemade baits, you | | | | Well at least until they've been hooked!) |
| can catch loads more fish than other anglers of your | | | | Prepared paste will ideally feel like a moldable bread |
| experience level. Now you can learn so much more, | | | | dough without being sticky, this is very quick and easy |
| faster, because of your improved catch rate that you | | | | to make boilies with minimum trouble, mess and time! |
| soon become 'an expert' yourself! | | | | Try placing sausages into an empty, very clean mastic |
| The discouraged anglers are often doomed to a | | | | gun with the end nozzle cut to a diameter of e.g. 15 |
| lifetime of missing out on many extraordinary catches | | | | millimeters, and extrude smaller sausages to put onto a |
| and peak fishing experiences, because they rigidly stick | | | | bait rolling table (a dual half round grooved device that |
| to shop baits that are already known to catch fish. | | | | chops and rolls simultaneously producing many round |
| They do not fully appreciate that bait's main advantage | | | | baits very fast! |
| is that it has not been used yet, and has not hooked all | | | | I like to roll out sausages of various diameter and boil |
| the big fish in advance of the majority using it. | | | | these, chopping them up when dry. I also make molded |
| Using a particular shop bought baits is like entering a | | | | hook baits between thumb and forefinger, some with |
| race, where you generally only get the best from | | | | specially added cork granules to make them buoyant. |
| them, when they are used for the first time on a | | | | Put on a large pan of boiling water (when boiling I add |
| water and where the fish do not associate them with | | | | sweeteners like molasses, honey, brown sugar, black |
| danger yet. | | | | treacle, and liquorice extract and sea salt. This really |
| After they have been used for a while successfully, | | | | gives your boiled baits 'different' extra attraction |
| results become standard for everyone using them | | | | despite having the usual firm skin). |
| again, and only the very most talented anglers will still | | | | I will often spike my hook baits or cut pieces off them |
| achieve outstanding catches on them, as they will | | | | to ensure their surface releases attractors much |
| again have lost that competitive edge of being new | | | | faster and can also absorb bait soaks more efficient. |
| and different. | | | | This really produces noticeably faster too at times. I've |
| There is also that unique sense of joy and satisfaction | | | | even caught fish to mid twenty pounds 'on the drop' |
| at catching a personal best fish or perhaps lake record | | | | straight after casting the bait in the water. |
| fish, on a bait you personally have designed and made | | | | Put some bait into a sieve or chip fryer, and boil the |
| yourself. This is something that makes for some very | | | | baits for up to an average time of 90 seconds. (The |
| special moments in your personal archive of special | | | | less the better to retain the nutritional qualities of your |
| fishing memories! | | | | bait.) Don't forget that with using alcohol based flavors, |
| Making and mixing dry dough baits and boilies: | | | | these are boiling away into the air as vapors with |
| (There's more great information for more experienced | | | | every second! |
| anglers later in this article, so please bear this in mind!) | | | | Milk proteins should have the minimum boiling, or you'll |
| To make things much easier for everyone, let's start | | | | reduce their nutritional attraction and benefits, by |
| by using a 'standardized starting measure'. Often it's | | | | damaging various amino acids in the proteins, (some |
| easiest to bring a combination of dry flours, meals and | | | | much more than others!) |
| ground materials together, to form one dry powder | | | | Smaller baits can take less time than e.g. 18 millimeter |
| mixture. You can then add this to eggs or water, to | | | | ones. Whatever you do, remove them from the boiling |
| make dough bait, paste bait, or so-called 'boilie' baits. | | | | water the moment they start floating. |
| Boiled baits are most often small round dough bait balls, | | | | Lay the skinned baits to dry on cloths on wooden fruit |
| with eggs included. When these dough baits are | | | | boxes or cardboard boxes or bread trays and keep |
| dropped into boiling water for a minute or two, then a | | | | turning them over to dry and cool evenly. Leave them |
| tough resistant skin is created around each bait, and | | | | to dry, usually from a few hours in warm room |
| this helps them last much longer on the hook, or on the | | | | temperatures to 3 days or more depending how hard |
| specialist carp 'hair rig'. | | | | or dry you want them! |
| This is a short line loop (attached to your hook) of | | | | As they dry, your finished boiles will shrink and harden |
| perhaps half an inch in length. A boilie bait is slid onto | | | | and absorb any strong smells or odors nearby, so |
| this loop, using a special baiting needle. The bait is held | | | | ensure you dry them in a clean environment away |
| in place using a small piece of grooved plastic or | | | | from chemicals, paint, cleaning products etc that may |
| rubber to hold it in place. Such baits can effectively last | | | | be left around inadvertently and may taint your baits |
| on this rig for over 24 hours in the water, if necessary. | | | | with fish repellent fumes! |
| A typical homemade 'dry ingredients base mixture', is | | | | To preserve your baits there are many preservatives |
| usually divided into 1 pound weights or 16 ounces. | | | | to mix with your dry bait mix before mixing, many are |
| (Approximately 500 grammes.) By doing this you can | | | | great for winter baits as they replace eggs which |
| design your bait by listing it's ingredients in individual | | | | could affect results in colder water temperatures. |
| ounces. You can use your fishing scales and a plastic | | | | Put, for example, a pound of finished boilies into |
| bag to help you do this! | | | | individually marked freezer bags, with the date and mix |
| You may prefer to use kilograms, as your 'reference | | | | and attractors or flavors clearly written. Or carry on |
| weight' if you are making very large amounts of bait. | | | | drying them until they're 95 % plus dry, and store them |
| Either way, this makes everything else easy, because | | | | in air-drying net bags, paper potato bags or similar, |
| you always know how much water, or eggs, or actual | | | | somewhere dry, away from rodents! |
| ingredients of which type you have put into your mix. | | | | I like to put about 30 to 60 milliliters of natural attractors |
| It is very important to make notes of each ingredient | | | | additives and amino acid compound with boilies into |
| and the amounts used in your bait base mixes. Also | | | | freezer bags before freezing and shake the baits to |
| any liquid attractors like flavours, amounts of eggs | | | | distribute them. This can more than double your catch |
| used too, as this will save you much head scratching, | | | | rate! For winter, try adding a favorite 'raw' undiluted |
| and unnecessary mistakes later. Making detailed | | | | flavour, like "Tutti Fruitti," "Scopex," and "Megaspice" |
| records is the key to successful bait making and | | | | etc. |
| makes everything easy! | | | | For waters with excessive bait robbing fish or crayfish |
| A simple but effective beginner's dry 'base mix' for | | | | for example, use higher levels of casein in your |
| example, is the following: | | | | dedicated hook bait mix, and after boiling and drying, |
| * 6 ounces of ground-up trout or salmon pellets or fish | | | | leave your baits in a sealed container full of sugar. This |
| meal powder. | | | | is a very effective way to harden your baits and |
| * 5 ounces of Semolina or ground rice flour. | | | | make them effectively last much longer! |
| * 5 ounces of ground-up soya beans (or flour.) | | | | To calculate the finished weight of prepared boilies |
| Start by placing your dry ingredients into a big strong | | | | from eggs and dry mix in advance of production, the |
| polythene bag; it may be quicker and easier to mix up | | | | eggs, (usually large hen's eggs) are 30 to 40 % |
| perhaps 6 to 10 pounds of powders at a time. (3 to 5 | | | | (average) the weight of the finished bait per pound. |
| kilograms). Blow some air into the bag and tie up the | | | | To make my baits different from many shop - bought, |
| top securely. Shake the contents very well until the | | | | uniform shaped, machine rolled boiled baits, I boil my |
| powders flow and have mixed thoroughly and the | | | | baits over a various range of times, e.g. short 10 to 90 |
| mixture is an even color. | | | | seconds (with nutritional baits) up to 5 minutes with |
| You can weigh out 1 pound or 1 kilogram batches of | | | | carbohydrate baits with overloaded attractors. |
| powders, and put these into sealed labelled individual | | | | For a useful quick bait tip for short range hand thrown |
| bags for storage, for later use. It's a good idea to | | | | or catapulted baits for example, or in a bait delivery |
| weigh out a 1 pound of powders and put this into a | | | | 'spod' cast out at range, use dough rolled flat and |
| container that holds approximately this amount. | | | | chopped finely into bait pieces. I even leave portions of |
| This means that from now on every time you make | | | | this procedure un-boiled as paste pieces, to be used |
| bait you can quickly just fill that can with any new | | | | as free baits, and in water soluble polyvinyl alcohol |
| base mix powder and you know you will have about a | | | | ('P.V.A.') bags, and dry these separately. |
| 1 pound dry mix to start with; to add to your liquid | | | | This gives baits of varied size, shape, consistency, |
| ingredients and eggs, etc. | | | | texture and density, allowing for much greater |
| Mixing your bait: | | | | attraction to carp, making it very much more difficult to |
| Put some powders into a large bowl or pan, e.g. one | | | | detect the hook bait. This is very worthwhile and many |
| pound of dry mix, crack 4 to 6 hen eggs into another | | | | of my biggest fish have come through using these |
| large bowl and add your other liquid ingredients to | | | | types of techniques! |
| them. (Some may require accurate measuring using a | | | | Floating or 'pop-up' boilies: |
| needle-less syringe.) | | | | As you are rolling all your paste into balls before boiling, |
| Examples of additives to put in at this stage might | | | | put aside, e.g. 50, for buoyant hook baits. They can be |
| include sweeteners, liquid molasses, squid extract, | | | | great fished on their own over weed or silt, or as a |
| sweet garlic oil, liquid amino acid compound, liquid | | | | 'snowman' when used on the hair or hook with a |
| betaine, flavor components, honey, yeast extract, anise | | | | normal sinking boilie. |
| extract etc. | | | | You can incorporate cork or small balls of polystyrene |
| Beat these very well until the consistency and color | | | | into these or even use a high amount of cork granules |
| are even. | | | | in a dedicated base mix, to adjust the amount of |
| I tend to over flavour with an alcohol based flavour if | | | | buoyancy you want. These are available from the |
| I'm making baits to be fished as purely lone 'attractor | | | | commercial companies. The advantage with these is |
| baits' with no free offerings being used. | | | | that your hook baits are identical in nutritional make-up |
| Add the dry powders, small amounts at a time, until the | | | | and signal leak - off to your 'free' or ground baits. |
| mixture forms a moldable dough. (It's sometimes good | | | | Another method is to put a small number of smaller, |
| to leave the mix in a sealed bag somewhere cool for | | | | normal baits on a plate, and microwave them in time |
| 2 to 3 hours, and even leave the 'soaking' paste dough | | | | increments of, e.g. 20 seconds, removing them before |
| in the fridge overnight. This allows the liquids to | | | | they begin to burn. These are soaked in attractors |
| penetrate into even the least soluble ingredients and | | | | before use, to maximize attraction. |
| really helps bait performance by maximizing its water | | | | Another method is to adjust the level of ingredients |
| soluble liquid attraction!) | | | | until you arrive at a floating test bait. I've also had this |
| By weighing any dry mix in a bowl, you can find the | | | | happen by accident, and not design while |
| weight of dry mix required for each further 4 to 6 egg | | | | experimenting with more buoyant ingredients like |
| mix. Please note that every base mix you design is | | | | sodium caseinate, shrimp and krill meals, even some |
| different and needs refining for the best mixing, rolling, | | | | egg biscuit based bird foods, for example. |
| digestibility, attraction, and water solubility ratios and | | | | I use casein as the base with sodium caseinate and |
| properties you require for your particular fishing | | | | then other ingredients, as this offers great nutritional |
| circumstances! | | | | signals, while being a harder more resilient bait. You can |
| Roll the dough (like in bread making) to release air. You | | | | buy 'pop-up' base mixes from many commercial |
| have many choices at this stage, like perhaps use a | | | | suppliers. These baits are best left to soak in a mixture |
| rolling pin to flatten the dough on a bread board, and | | | | of natural attractive extracts and flavours, with an |
| then cut your dough into many odd shaped pieces. (A | | | | added amino acid compound for example, to harden |
| very quick bait making method, and a proven one for | | | | and preserve the baits and maximize their carp |
| excellent catches!) | | | | attraction qualities. |
| Or perhaps squeeze small pieces into dense blobs, or | | | | Such baits fished just on their own on hard fished |
| roll dough into sausages and create cylinder shaped | | | | waters can be very productive, especially casting |
| pellets or flat cylinder shapes, or flat discs. (Ideal for | | | | immediately to carp seen bubbling or 'rolling, and 'head |
| weed and silt etc). Or chop dough into pieces and | | | | and shouldering'! |
| hand roll them into balls of varied sizes. (And even | | | | So, why not give bait making a go; you really can have |
| chop these pieces in half for another alternative | | | | your 'cake' and eat it this is the tip of the ice-berg! |
| shape!) A little vegetable oil on your palms will help if | | | | The author has many more fishing and bait 'edges' up |
| your baits are sticky. | | | | his sleeve. Every single one can have a huge impact |
| I aim to create baits that will really look, act and feel | | | | on catches... |
| different to the regimented commercial baits that the | | | | |