So … there’s boilies then there’s boilie kits then there’s making your own boilies from base ingredients. Initially I thought ‘right make your own’ cheaper & good fun so off I went on my search for how best to make your own boilies. Now there can only be so much information no how to make them …. WRONG!! The amount of info on the net about making boilies is only undermined by the number of brand product boilies on the shelf!
This entry is not the definitive on how to make boilies by any stretch however I now personally feel that making your own is certainly the way to go. Why?
- Cheaper – Once you’ve perfected the method)
- More fun – well definitely for people like me (enough said!) and it gives you ‘carte blanche’ on flavouring & content (where, as I’m sure a lot of us have found, buy a pack of ‘super-duper-tuttie-fruitie-party-taster-double-pop-ups’, find they really aren’t any good and you’ve just wasted your money!)
Enough of sounding like I'm slating the brand boilies (I’m sure a lot of them work). Here’s what I found in my searching which has given us a base to start from:
Please note I won’t be quoting anyone here – these are general findings. In later entries which give examples it’ll be credit where credit’s due
- It has been said that only 20% of ‘off-the-shelf’ boilies are any good and the rest are just ‘flavour sellers’ – sound good but we’re not the fish!
- There are a small amount of ‘base products’ you will need in order to make the boilie which are comparatively cheap.
- These ‘base products’ are mostly available in good supermarkets & health food shops except:
- The key products which make boilies nutritious & attractive to the fish (bird foods / fishmeals) are not as easy to find on the high street. You may be able to order them from good pet shops but my guess is its better to source a good supplier online (for example Haiths (Visit Haiths bait ingredients section)- more specific advice will be given in later posts.
- There is a debate on whether the boiling of the boilie actually seals in the flavour added to the initial mixture making it useless as an attractant but nice for the fish that actually eats it! (could be a long debate!)
- A successful boilie will contain 3 flavour elements:
- A flavour that disperses immediately and easily spreading over a wide area acting as an attractant
- A denser flavouring that disperses slower and in a more concentrated area which further entices the fish as they get closer to your bait.
- The ‘clincher’ – the final flavour which is on the boilie making it, in a perfect world, irresistible to the fish.
- Methods of flavouring boilies include:
- Dreezing boilies with the flavour and the defrosting actually draws more of the flavour into the boilie.
- ‘Glugging’ is a very effective method of flavouring (not just boilies but other baits as well (another chapter will be needed for this one.))
So what have I come down to?
Making our own boilies is definitely the way to go – why?
- Hopefully saving money
- More fun – catching a decent fish on bait you’ve actually made yourself – yep – that’s it!
- It enables far more diversity – adding the flavour wanted when wanted.
Until proved otherwise I’m convinced that the ‘non-boiling’ method is a better way of creating batches of long life boilies which can be used when & in the quantities needed, adding the required flavours when the water has been chosen – seems logical.
So – the quest continues, these are my findings, comments will always be well received and as the methods are put into practice we will be publishing the results and where successful we’ll put some instructions up as well.
