I'm thinking of buying some base mix to roll my own baits and just wondered what the real perks/benefit of rolling your own baits has. Obviously there's the fresh factor but thought I'd ask and see what opinions are out there 
In reply to Post #1
It can be very cost effective if you are on a budget if you put together your own base mix.
It can be very cost effective if you are on a budget if you put together your own base mix.
In reply to Post #1
feels great to catch them on your own recipe that you have rolled yourself.
feels great to catch them on your own recipe that you have rolled yourself.
You get quality time in the shed away from the Mrs.
In reply to Post #1
Perks: high quality bait for less money, super fresh, good feeling to catch on your own bait...
Cons: some loose their head and start to overcomplicate things, you need to spend time in the shed to roll your baits
Perks: high quality bait for less money, super fresh, good feeling to catch on your own bait...
Cons: some loose their head and start to overcomplicate things, you need to spend time in the shed to roll your baits
You get one extra thing to worry about and question when you blank.
In reply to Post #1
Just keep everything nice and simple and don't go silly with loads of additives.
For around £3.00-£3.50 per Kg you can make yourself a bait you can have total faith in, you don't need to roll loads either- roll and store a kg for Hookbaits in the fridge not the freezer, then keep glugging in whichever liquid food you have used in the bait, I do it every Monday and they just keep soaking it up.
There's no need to roll for pre-baiting/freebies either if your short of spare time – just buy cheap boilies and/or 14mm halibut Pellets and pre-glug in the same liquid food as the bait you have made, the day prior to a session.
I use exactly the same own rolled bait for Carp, Cats, Barbel and Chub.
Just keep everything nice and simple and don't go silly with loads of additives.
For around £3.00-£3.50 per Kg you can make yourself a bait you can have total faith in, you don't need to roll loads either- roll and store a kg for Hookbaits in the fridge not the freezer, then keep glugging in whichever liquid food you have used in the bait, I do it every Monday and they just keep soaking it up.
There's no need to roll for pre-baiting/freebies either if your short of spare time – just buy cheap boilies and/or 14mm halibut Pellets and pre-glug in the same liquid food as the bait you have made, the day prior to a session.
I use exactly the same own rolled bait for Carp, Cats, Barbel and Chub.
In reply to Post #1
Cost, freshness, using a unique bait, being able to roll a variety of sizes and shapes, actually knowing for sure what's going into your bait. There really is no comparison imo
Cost, freshness, using a unique bait, being able to roll a variety of sizes and shapes, actually knowing for sure what's going into your bait. There really is no comparison imo
You get a lot less things to think about when you blank.
In reply to Post #1
When you blank you cant blame kevin nash
When you blank you cant blame kevin nash
In reply to Post #1
There a positives and negatives.
You can use your own unique mixes and find interesting new combos. You know what's in it and how old it is and you can make whatever shape and size you want. Negatives......the initial cost to buy the good materials, the time to make it and lastly and most importantly, you can cock it up easily! Not all brands produce poor baits anymore, there are some clever people out there who have done things properly so that you do not have to waste time questioning what is worthwhile for the inclusion in your recipe.
I loved my days tinkering in the shed but I also wasted a huge amount of time and money! Maybe a good basemix from a good supplier is a good compromise and starting point.
There a positives and negatives.
You can use your own unique mixes and find interesting new combos. You know what's in it and how old it is and you can make whatever shape and size you want. Negatives......the initial cost to buy the good materials, the time to make it and lastly and most importantly, you can cock it up easily! Not all brands produce poor baits anymore, there are some clever people out there who have done things properly so that you do not have to waste time questioning what is worthwhile for the inclusion in your recipe.
I loved my days tinkering in the shed but I also wasted a huge amount of time and money! Maybe a good basemix from a good supplier is a good compromise and starting point.
You can buy a box of 12 eggs, use 6 to knock up a kilo of bait then make
a nice 6 egg omelette.
a nice 6 egg omelette.
In reply to Post #12
Genius
Genius
In reply to Post #13
Thanks
Thanks
In reply to Post #12
That's quite an omelette. You wanna be careful you don't get bound up.
That's quite an omelette. You wanna be careful you don't get bound up.
I have it for breakfast washed down with fresh prune juice.
Thanks for the opinions! Loving the omelette suggestion. Must be a big lad tucking 6 eggs away! Fair play 
In reply to Post #1
I'd say it depends how much you intend to use. I used to hand roll a 6 egg mix for a weekly day only session, didn't mind. Then I started fishing much more and used a lot more bait. You'll soon get fed up hand gunning say 20kg even with a multi nozzle on the gun, never mind mixing it. There's a art to gauging how stiff a mix will be depending on when it was mixed and what it contains and learning that can be VERY frustrating.
Get any ideas of saving money right out of your head, your still paying with your time.
Having said that it is fun, you can be unique and if your lucky you might find a edge, if you believe in them.
I'd say it depends how much you intend to use. I used to hand roll a 6 egg mix for a weekly day only session, didn't mind. Then I started fishing much more and used a lot more bait. You'll soon get fed up hand gunning say 20kg even with a multi nozzle on the gun, never mind mixing it. There's a art to gauging how stiff a mix will be depending on when it was mixed and what it contains and learning that can be VERY frustrating.
Get any ideas of saving money right out of your head, your still paying with your time.
Having said that it is fun, you can be unique and if your lucky you might find a edge, if you believe in them.
In reply to Post #1
Ive just bought some base mix and flavours to make my own.
Benefits (reasons) ive decided too:
- much softer baits (Where I'm fishing is all catapult range)
- control over flavour levels, much subtler bait
- freshness, i only use relatively small amounts so can roll fresh without having to freeze
- most people are using red fishmeal/nut mix baits and this base mi is completely different to those, but not available ready rolled
Ive just bought some base mix and flavours to make my own.
Benefits (reasons) ive decided too:
- much softer baits (Where I'm fishing is all catapult range)
- control over flavour levels, much subtler bait
- freshness, i only use relatively small amounts so can roll fresh without having to freeze
- most people are using red fishmeal/nut mix baits and this base mi is completely different to those, but not available ready rolled
In reply to Post #19
I bet it ‘tastes' good
I bet it ‘tastes' good
What has made it easy for me is to make notes on the first few initial mixes in terms of getting the dough right for gunning and rolling.
Ie
6 large eggs ( I use the same brand for consistency of volume)
650 grams base mix
2 hours dough rest in fridge
1 hour to a room temp.
This takes all the guess work out of it and makes the process much easier and a joy.
Ie
6 large eggs ( I use the same brand for consistency of volume)
650 grams base mix
2 hours dough rest in fridge
1 hour to a room temp.
This takes all the guess work out of it and makes the process much easier and a joy.
In reply to Post #21
Now list the negatives..
Baits unproven, will have you doubting it after a few blanks and binning it if they continue.
Messy to make
Time consuming to make.
House stinks.
Batches often go wrong if you dont know what your doing.
The carp may hate your genius ideas for ingredients.
Now list the negatives..
Baits unproven, will have you doubting it after a few blanks and binning it if they continue.
Messy to make
Time consuming to make.
House stinks.
Batches often go wrong if you dont know what your doing.
The carp may hate your genius ideas for ingredients.
In reply to Post #21
6 large eggs ( I use the same brand for consistency of volume)
Got to say that did make me laugh...who told the chickens
6 large eggs ( I use the same brand for consistency of volume)
Got to say that did make me laugh...who told the chickens
In reply to Post #22
How many blanks do you have before you bin a shop purchased bait ?
How many blanks do you have before you bin a shop purchased bait ?
In reply to Post #22
Same could be said for any bait , especially given most seem to think the reason they blank is because of bait when infact it rarely is.
Not actually messy at all if you work sensibly,and not particularly time consuming once you get the hang of it.
House stinking, yeah I'll give you that one
Batches don't often go wrong if you learn from your mistakes
And yes the carp may not like your baits. But they could like them more than a shop bought.....
Same could be said for any bait , especially given most seem to think the reason they blank is because of bait when infact it rarely is.
Not actually messy at all if you work sensibly,and not particularly time consuming once you get the hang of it.
House stinking, yeah I'll give you that one
Batches don't often go wrong if you learn from your mistakes
And yes the carp may not like your baits. But they could like them more than a shop bought.....
In reply to Post #25
There's also the other massive advantage of home rolling – no profit margin to worry about, there's nothing holding you back on using high quality ingredients
There's also the other massive advantage of home rolling – no profit margin to worry about, there's nothing holding you back on using high quality ingredients
In reply to Post #26
I hear from quite a few folks that they do not have time to roll bait.
Most of them clock up plenty of hours on carpy social media stuff weekly.
I hear from quite a few folks that they do not have time to roll bait.
Most of them clock up plenty of hours on carpy social media stuff weekly.
In reply to Post #27
Made my own for donkeys years , then started buying a ready made base mix and just rolling my own as and when , joined a new syndicate and found myself in garage 2-3 hrs a week rolling baits as was getting thru kilos of it....compressor , tables etc etc....
Did some working out , included everything in the bait ,including additives , eggs etc, little bit for gas and electric worked out at £5 something a kilo ......
Now I just buy a good quality ready rolled frozen bait £6 a kilo and I'm not in the garage 2-3 hrs a week or getting it in the ear off the mrs for stinking the house out 😂😂
Made my own for donkeys years , then started buying a ready made base mix and just rolling my own as and when , joined a new syndicate and found myself in garage 2-3 hrs a week rolling baits as was getting thru kilos of it....compressor , tables etc etc....
Did some working out , included everything in the bait ,including additives , eggs etc, little bit for gas and electric worked out at £5 something a kilo ......
Now I just buy a good quality ready rolled frozen bait £6 a kilo and I'm not in the garage 2-3 hrs a week or getting it in the ear off the mrs for stinking the house out 😂😂
In reply to Post #1
The thing is with rolling your own is, in general most people arent bait buffs, so its trial and error, most of the time it ends in error. Obviously you know what goes in it, but that doesn't equate to a better bait
The thing is with rolling your own is, in general most people arent bait buffs, so its trial and error, most of the time it ends in error. Obviously you know what goes in it, but that doesn't equate to a better bait
In reply to Post #29
Nobody is an expert when they start, and yes you will have some disasters along the way but you learn and they get fewer as your experience grows.
On some waters in some situations bait matters, not always but often enough and besides experimenting with different ideas is fun and catching on your own bait adds to the overall enjoyment of carp fishing.
Nobody is an expert when they start, and yes you will have some disasters along the way but you learn and they get fewer as your experience grows.
On some waters in some situations bait matters, not always but often enough and besides experimenting with different ideas is fun and catching on your own bait adds to the overall enjoyment of carp fishing.
In reply to Post #29
If most of the time it ends in error then you have a problem. It's really not difficult in the slightest to make a decent bait better than anything you can buy from the shelf or freezer of the tackle shop
If most of the time it ends in error then you have a problem. It's really not difficult in the slightest to make a decent bait better than anything you can buy from the shelf or freezer of the tackle shop
In reply to Post #20
Ha! You are spot on Sir......
Ha! You are spot on Sir......
In reply to Post #1
HI,
Can only speak from my own experience. Started rolling my own bait this year, and caught more fish this season ever before.
I think you can't beat a nice fresh home made boilie. Start off with one egg batches (around 100 grams of base mix; it will var y slightly), and give it a go.
It does take a bit of time, but not much. And you can't beat the feeling of catching on your own hand made bait!
Pro-s: good quality ingredients, infinite variety of flavours, colours etc. Any size you want too. Something different from everyone else.
Cons. Time to make. Some ingredients smell nasty. Cost is likely higher in the short term, cheaper in the long run. Can go wrong and waste time, money and bait. You need a day or two head start to fish (those boilies have to harden)
HI,
Can only speak from my own experience. Started rolling my own bait this year, and caught more fish this season ever before.
I think you can't beat a nice fresh home made boilie. Start off with one egg batches (around 100 grams of base mix; it will var y slightly), and give it a go.
It does take a bit of time, but not much. And you can't beat the feeling of catching on your own hand made bait!
Pro-s: good quality ingredients, infinite variety of flavours, colours etc. Any size you want too. Something different from everyone else.
Cons. Time to make. Some ingredients smell nasty. Cost is likely higher in the short term, cheaper in the long run. Can go wrong and waste time, money and bait. You need a day or two head start to fish (those boilies have to harden)
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