Do It Yourself!

  • Posted: 24th April 2020
  • Author: Rhys Evans

A lot of people have turned their hand to making their own hookbaits during lockdown, but how many have gone the whole way and rolled their own boilies? Rhys Evans has and he has been delighted with the results.

In this simple step-by-step guide, Rhys explains how he makes a four-egg mix into a kilo of boilies.

You will need:

Additional to personalise:

  • Fish sauce
  • Soy sauce
  • Garlic granules
  • Crushed egg shells

Step 1 – Crack the eggs:

Crack four eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk them up before adding any liquids.

Start with four eggs

Crack them into a bowl

Step 2 – Add your chosen liquids:

Add your liquids to your whisked eggs. I added:

You must ALWAYS add your liquids to the whisked egg before adding your base mix. This ensures your added flavours will be mixed evenly throughout the base mix, providing a rounded flavour throughout the bait.

Secret 7 Liquid Food

Add a couple of tablespoons to the egg mix

Now a tablespoon of fish sauce

Then a tablespoon of soy sauce

Mix it all together

Step 3 – Adding the Base Mix:

Add your first full cup of Secret 7 Base Mix to your egg mix. For best results, mix this into the egg with a fork before adding any more. Mix it through thoroughly, ensuring there a no lumps.

Once you have mixed the first cup, add another cup. Using the fork, mix this through again until you have a smooth soft paste with no lumps!

Add a full cup of S7 Base Mix to the liquid mix

Mix thoroughly to ensure there are no lumps

Add another cup of Base Mix and mix together until you have a soft paste

Step 4 – Adding your dry ingredients:

Add your dry ingredients. I added:

  • 2 x tablespoons of garlic granules
  • 2 x tablespoons of crushed egg shells

The mix should be much thicker now and require you to get your hands dirty. Mix the garlic granules and egg shells through the soft paste, ensuring a consistent texture throughout. The egg shells add a nice crunch and create a more porous texture to the bait, allowing for greater water penetration to flush out the flavours and scents.

Add two tablespoons of garlic granules

Add two tablespoons of egg shells

Start mixing together with your hands

You should end up with something like this

Step 5 – Finishing your Base Mix:

Add half a cup of Secret 7 Base Mix at a time until your paste firms up. You should be able to form a ball that is only slightly ‘tacky’. The perfect paste will be just like a dough mixture.

Add half a cup of Base Mix at a time to firm up the paste

Step 6 – Preserve your paste:

Split your paste up into gun-sized chunks and wrap in cling film. It is vitally important you do this to ensure your mix doesn’t dry out. If it dries out it will crack and crumble as it comes out of the gun.

Wrap what you aren’t using in cling film

Step 7 – Rolling your baits:

Gun out two ‘sausages’ on to your rolling table and press the top section down firmly. Always start the rolling process by pushing away from your body to start rounding off the bait. A few rolls back and forth should do it.

Once rolled, put the baits in a drying tray whilst you roll the remainder of your paste. I used an old mushroom tray I had lying around.

Top Tip: After you have rolled your paste, you will find some leftover mix in the nozzle of your gun. Wrap this in cling film and keep hold of it for later. You can then use this to make your own cork-ball pop-ups!

Gun two ‘sausages’ on to your rolling table

Always start the rolling process by pushing away from your body

Perfectly round baits

Put your baits in a tray. A mushroom tray is ideal

Step 8 – Boiling your baits:

Boil your baits in portions being careful not to overfill the pan. Take into consideration the size of the bait you are boiling and the length of time you keep them in the water for.

I rolled 14mm boilies and have found that 65 seconds is an ample amount of time for softer boilies. If you wanted a slightly harder bait I would advise 105 seconds for a 14mm, but no more.

Top Tip: Make sure you do this outside or you will end up single!

I have found 65 seconds is a perfect boiling time for 14mm baits

Step 9 – Dry and cool:

After boiling, shake off any excess water and put the baits into a drying tray. I allow them to sit in the tray for about an hour, moving the baits around every so often.

Once boiled, add to a drying tray. I leave them there for about an hour, moving them around occasionally

Step 10 – Freeze them and use!

After an hour of drying, pour the boilies into a sandwich bag and shove them in the freezer. Get the bag out of the freezer the night before you want to use them to allow time for them to defrost.

Happy rolling!

Instagram: @southcoast_anglers