SEMOLINA. This is a great carbohydrate (energy) & an excellent carrier for flavours. It is a very cheap ingredient, which is readily available at most supermarkets or health food shops. You can buy white or brown (wholemeal). You can use semolina mixed with one other ingredient like Soya flour and you have the basis of a boilie, In truth a lot of ‘ready made’s consist of semolina and Soya flour.

SOYA FLOUR There are three main types, Soya isolate (85% protein), Soya flour (50% protein) and full fat Soya (37% protein). High in oil content they are another excellent flavour carrier. As a 50/50 semolina/Soya flour, add a flavour and a little sweetener and you have a simple boilie.

MAIZE MEAL Again a carbohydrate, cheap and a great flavour carrier. You can buy this as flour or in a slightly gritty form. I use maize in every mix I make.

POLENTA This is also ground down maize.

RICE Again, in a powder form, it is high in starch and carbohydrates, and another inexpensive useful addition to Semolina based baits.

As a beginner in making your own boilies, try using first this simple formular, than as your confidence grows try adding your own base mix additions and flavours. Try to use 'fishmeals' through the summer months and your 'carbohidrates' through the winter months.

BIRD FOODS

The next set of ingredients to look at are ‘birdfoods’. There is a fantastic choice to choose from, so I will list some bird food’s and describe a few which I have used.

1.        Spanish Pepper Mix Songster Food

2.        Softbill Food Australian Canary Mix

3.        Prosecto Insectivorous Dakota Red Millet

4.        Red Factor Canary Food Parrakeet Mixture

5.        Robin Red Carophyll Red

6.        Ready Mix Carophyll Finch Mix

nb:     All of the above ingredients will need grinding down to make them easier to roll.  Again , these are not expensive items.

          These are just a few types of birdfood’s which you can use and by trial and error, you will find the one’s that suit you and your mix the best. A lot of these ingredients will need grinding down as in this natural state they are too coarse to roll.

ROBIN RED

          This is one ‘birdfood’ ingredient  which I place in every mix. It is a very dark red birdfood and rich in spices, oils and vitamins and contains ground seeds. It also has caraphyll red in it, a known attractor for all carp. I can not express how underrated this product is within the angling world and to this day many a top angler adds this ingredient to his mix to give him the edge.

FISHMEALS

Basic Fishmeal Boilie ingredients

250 soya flour
250 rice flour
200g Semolina
300g Fishmeal
3ml olive oil
6 – 8 eggs

Your own colour and enhancer.

           Most people using fishmeal’s who want to add a flavour, naturally use a fish flavour. I find shell fish ‘sense appeal’ and ‘Monster crab’ are by far the best in form of results. I  use a sweet flavour enhancer, I know, fismeal and sweet flavours seem a bit radical but still it catches me my fair share of fish. The main reason for mixing the two, is to be different from the other anglers who might be using fishmeals on the same water as me. Now I know the idea of fishmeal’s and Sweet Plum, Cognac, Old Scopex and  Tutti Frutti as flavours in fishmeal’s may not be very appealing to us but just remember, that fish don’t know that Cognac and fishmeal’s don’t go together and will indeed find some very bizarre combinations very appetizing.

           Fish also find fishmeals easier to digest which their bodies convert into energy and growth. One of the pluses of this, is that the fish will put on  weight when fed fishmeals over a period of time. The only time when this does not apply is in winter, as fish find it hard to digest fishmeals due to the slowing down of their metabolism. Fishmeal’s should make up about 30% to 50% of the base mix, with the rest made up of a binder and carbohydrates like Maize meal, Semolina and Soya flour.

          Things you can add to help bind the mix include Wheat Gluten, Semolina and Egg Albumen. Fishmeals have a protein content of between 50% and 70%, and hold oils that contain small amounts of DHA omega three, fatty acids (good ones) and various levels of amino acids. Below is a list of fishmeals, which will enhance your bait.

White Fish Meal - Capelin Meal - Tuna Meal - Sardine Meal - Mackerel Meal - Sand Eel Meal - Trout Pellets - Haddock Meal - Cod Meal - Anchovy Meal

Crustacean Meal - Herring Meal

          If you opt for fishmeal ingredients, sieve it first to remove the lumps, which are always in the meal. This will also aid you in the rolling process.

         In the spring, summer and autumn they are fantastic, but come the winter months when the carp’s metabolism slows down, yes, they will eat a fishmeal boilie but it will take a long  time for the system to digest it, so subsequently will prove difficult to catch because the fishmeal boilie sits longer in the carp than usual.

FISH OILS

         Many anglers place fish oils in their mixes, be it fish or a carbohydrate mix, because as an attractor they are probably the best there is. I tend to use two different fish oils, the first is Tuna oil and the second is Salmon oil. You can use them in a variety of different ways, i.e. put it in the mix at a rate of 30ml per pd, dip your hookbaits directly into the oil prior to casting, over spray your boilies after you have made your mix or soaking a number of hookbaits in a container with some fish oil in for a few days.

         This has the effect of making the boilie as hard as a rock. You can also add a flavour to the oil if you our going to soak your baits adding to the attraction. If you are one of the few to be using a fish oil on your water, I will go so far as to say, I guarantee that you will catch, because carp love fish oils. For many years in England fish oils in a bait was absolutely devastating.

MAKING YOUR BOILIES

       Now you have your ingredients you are ready to put them together. Remembering that most mixes are based on a mix consisting of 6eggs or 500gr.

       So to make a simple mix, take; 200gms of Semolina, 200gms of Maize meal and 200gms of Soya flour. Put all together in a bowl or plastic bag and mix together.

Remember, all liquid additives (oils, flavours, ect) should be mixed with the eggs and not applied to the powdered mix.

       Take 6 medium size eggs and crack them into a bowl, add the flavour to the eggs, using the recommended amount of flavour, using a syringe/measuring spoon add your sweetener if required and mix together with a fork. The amount of flavour and sweetener to use will be found on the bottle, use the correct dosage according to the amount of base mix you are using, it is worth sticking to the amount reccomended as if you overdo the levels, it may do more harm than good.

       Beat the eggs until it is all mixed together and while still mixing add a spoon at a time of your base mix. Always add the powder to the eggs and not the eggs to the powder. As you do this the mix will begin to stiffen. At this point take the mix from the bowl and start to manipulate it with your hands. You do not want the mix too wet or too dry, so by trial and error you will find the right consistency. The mix should be easy to knead and not sticky. If it binds and holds well, all is good. When you are happy with the consistency be sure to cover it with a damp towel or place it in a plastic food bag, this will prevent it from drying out and making it too hard to work with.

       The mix now needs making into sausages by using a boilie gun. First roll out a length of mix on the table and keep rolling with your hands until the sausage is no wider than the diameter of the sausage gun. Place a length of the sausage into the gun & Squeeze the  sausages to length on your 'Rollaball' table, place two lines (no more than this for beigginers) on the roller table and roll half a dozen times back and forth. I myself use a ‘Gardners Rollaball’ and find them perfect for the job. Once you have rolled a dozen times or so place the ‘rolled boilies’ onto a drying tray, again I use a ‘Gardners’ drying tray, perfect for the job.

       This will stop them sticking together and allows the air to move round them. If you want to boil your baits, try using an old chip pan (with a basket which is great for adding and removing the baits) Firstly bring the water to boiling. Once the water is boiling, place no more than 20 boilies at any one time. This will keep the water boiling, normally any more than this will take the water off the boil. To place just a skin on your boilies boil for 90 seconds. Boilies at 22mm/24mm around 2 to 3mins these times will leave your boilies soft inside and just forms a hard outer skin. Harder you want them, the longer you boil them (around 3 mins, up to 5 for 24mm)

The longer you boil the harder they become, but be aware, the longer you boil them, you will also boil out the flavours and other additives you have put in the bait. Another alternative to boiling is steaming. I would recommend you do this. This way you do less damage to the baits, keeping a high percentage of its nutritional values and flavours.

       If you have boiled your baits and think you have lost a lot of the smell, put the boilies into a plastic bag then take your flavour and pour 1 to 3 ml of the flavour over the baits or spray with an atomizer and shake the bag well to distribute the flavour. When you put them into the freezer, the boilies will absorb the flavours that was lost during the boiling process.

       Do not worry if you get it wrong first time because you will learn from your mistakes, don’t through away your mix when it goes wrong, use it to bait with and start again. As you become more experienced you will find short cuts and things to try that no one else has thought of.

Remember this is only a guideline to what you can do, and that experimenting is the fun part of it!