Is rolling your own cost effective?

[yonny]

Guys.

I'm trying to work out if the savings made by rolling your own baits are really worth it. I mean, it all depends on what you value your time at surely? I figured we could have a go at working out what it actually costs us in time on a £ p/hr basis, add it to the cost of the ingredients, and see what we're actually saving?

First thing we need to know is how long it takes to prep, roll, boil and clean up for say 20 kg. Over to you lads.

[androoooo]

I'd say it's not cost effective when you put in all the time etc.

 

I've been doing a mix that came in around the £3 a kilo mark, that came with a lot of sourcing to get ingredients cheaply and substituting things like lt94 for provimi 66.

 

If you want a bait made that's comparable to the quality you can buy from some bait companies then once you factor in time it just wouldn't be.

 

I don't think I'll continue next season although it's been fun and good to catch on home made bait.

 

I think ultimately it's a satisfaction thing unless you truly understand everything and can put together something a bit special.

 

In future I may have a look at creating some special hookers produced small scale and expensive by the kilo. I know having a conversation with someone very knowledgeable on bait, that his pop ups are only produced in small one egg mixes due to how it behaves.

 

 

 

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[Gazlaaar]

That entirely depends fella, far gone are the days of saving money making your own, you'd be better thinking it gives you the chance to use something unique, something different from the masses. You can save money, but with the quantities you by and trying to make it as good as the bigger guys you probably won't notice a lot of difference

[Steve001]

Really not worth it financially. I make my own as I enjoy it and I make a bait thats not commercially viable as it's a pig to handle and roll. Otherwise I'd be using prems again.

[hutch]

I agree with Androoo and touched on it in my rotary piece, I don't think there is a saving to be had anymore, I think its more a personal gains thing these days.

 

It takes me roughly 2+ hours to knock out 5 kilo these days, but this is done with just basic home baiting making kit rather than buying all the bits that you would need for bigger runs then you have a good 30 plus mins clear up.

 

You can pick up some of the best mixes now pre rolled at somewhere between £6-£8 a kilo so will likely save nothing and incur more costs keeping ingredients fresh etc... 

[bishops]

As others have said, don't think the money side really comes into it much now once you take into account time and how much ready made's have improved over the years.

 

But for personal satisfaction and getting exactly what you want to achieve with a bait, for me it's still worth it as I don't make a lot at once. a 3 egg mix normally takes about 1 1/2 hours including boiling and clearing up.

[yonny]

Well that answers that then.

Judging by the responses I'd guess that if you considered pricing your time even at minimum wage you'd probs be making a loss?

I make my own hookbaits and tbh it really does my head in (hand rolling corkers and forming little bits of fake corn from pop up mix lol) so I can't see myself rolling big batches of bait if it doesn't present a saving.

I can imagine the satisfaction of catching a biggun on a custom home rolled boilie is spot on but I think I'm just too lazy!

[adamkitson]

I can see it being cheaper depending on what you're using. I'm about to start a bit of home made bait making, but it's not for the saving really. I reckon I can get it to about a fiver a kg, and that's by buying a quality base mix, rather than all the ingredients, but it'll take a few kilos before I've covered what I spent today on table/sausage gun, etc. If you use mainline and buy by the kilo from a tackle shop, and go onto making your own from individually sources ingredients you could save a lot. If you have a good bulk supplier of pre mades and go on to roll mainline base mixes with their activators it'll be more. Depends what you get currently and what you plan to roll. My plan is to empty my syndi on a home made bait and not tell anyone what it is until end of the season! Just for a laugh! Mwahaha!

[snoozer]

I liken it to making your own Bread, A novilty to start with but let someone else put in the hard work and you just part with the cash

[B.C.]

There are loads of little local bait firms that are around £5/6 kg. But chances are every angler locally is on the same bait....You can make a decent bait for around £3 a kg that will catch fish. And for £5 a kg you can make a top bait with quality ingredients. If I'm making bait, then I'm fishing. So I'd never factor in my own time as a cost as it would be one small part of a pastime that pretty much takes up all of my time. Also, you can tweak your own bait be it with ingredients, shape, size ,all the time to suit circumstances, most bait firms charge for this. I think if you're concerned about a few hours bait making being expensive, then you would probably have to ask yourself, How much does each fish I catch cost me? Basically, if you enjoy making your own bait and gain confidence from it, you will make it. If you're not really into it, then you'll probably look for a reason not to do it.

The first time I saw fish boshing over my home mades gave me a real buzz.

[chillfactor]

then you would probably have to ask yourself, How much does each fish I catch cost me? .

This question is definitely taboo in my house !!!

[adamkitson]

This question is definitely taboo in my house !!!

Don't even want to consider the answer to that question!

[chillfactor]

Me neither !

[Gazlaaar]

Me neither !

Ignorance is bliss

[adamkitson]

Just worked out the cost per kilo of the baits I've been making, (for 2 nights so I have no idea if they work yet!) come in at under £3 a kilo!

 

An unbranded quality fishmeal base mix, could probably make it a little cheaper if I sourced ingredient seperatly, but it's early days for that, and some flavours/ oils and colours.

 

The rate I get through bait, even at the £5 something a kilo I pay for bait I would still save enough over a year to pay for half a syndicate ticket! I reckon I'd have to spend about half a day a week making bait though. If I went to work for this time I'd earn more, but it's not as much fun!

Edited September 15, 2016 by adamkitson

[bobstains]

You're assuming you're getting paid for not rolling, unless you can work the extra hours then it doesn't add up. If you can't fit two hours in to knock up 5kg, then buy. However, if you have the time, and want to make your own, then surely cost per hour doesn't matter.

 

 

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[adamkitson]

Well no I was simply throwing in the time factor as some may take that into consideration. A saving of £3 per kg may not be a lot to someone who uses 1 or 2 kg a week and has little spare time. Someone who campaigns lakes and uses kilos it may make a difference. Personally I use a fair bit of bait, but I'm self employed with no shortage of work, so yeah if I booked myself work for the half day a week is spend making bait I'd earn enough to buy much more than I can make. But I'd rather be making bait than working, so like you say, cost per hour doesn't matter.

[bobstains]

It's something I wanted to do for years, but never actually got round to it. I liked the idea of producing a food source bait and catching on it. My fishing, for the next few years, is changing from carp to trout and pike. The only bait to worry about will be deer hair or pheasant feather.

 

 

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[adamkitson]

Done a fair bit of fly tying in my time too! That's good fun, apart from when the satisfaction of catching on your own pattern is mixed with annoyance that the fish has trashed a fly that took ages to tie!

 

 

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[smufter]

I would imagine if you are fishing a lot then the relative cost is going to come down considerably. 

I don't fish enough to even contemplate rolling my own.

Bit like joining a golf club.

My membership costs me £1,100.00 a year.

If I play 50 times a year it works out cheaper than paying a green fee.

If I only play 20 times a year I'm on to a loser.

[salokcinnodrog]

I could make a bait probably a lot cheaper than paying retail price for boilies, although if I wanted top quality, I may find it a bit more expensive as I wouldn't want junk ingredients.

 

Animal feed suppliers are good places for ingredients, Lamlac, Cooked cereal meal, fishmeals, birdfoods, vitamin and minerals, you think of it, we got it.

 

The bit that works expensive can be bulk bags, 25kilos at a time of some ingredients. This may be restrictive as some ingredients have short shelf life, some 6 or even 4 months or less. So you may need to bulk roll, and that can cut down fishing time.

[B.C.]

I could make a bait probably a lot cheaper than paying retail price for boilies, although if I wanted top quality, I may find it a bit more expensive as I wouldn't want junk ingredients.

 

Animal feed suppliers are good places for ingredients, Lamlac, Cooked cereal meal, fishmeals, birdfoods, vitamin and minerals, you think of it, we got it.

 

The bit that works expensive can be bulk bags, 25kilos at a time of some ingredients. This may be restrictive as some ingredients have short shelf life, some 6 or even 4 months or less. So you may need to bulk roll, and that can cut down fishing time.

 

Agree, but whenever a bulk load was needed, me and a couple of mates would all club together for ingredients and make a night of it with a few beers.. Like a mini assembly line, four of us 60 / 80KG in about 6hrs at around £2.50/kg, with bulk loads you really need a few of you when you're using basic equipment.

[WARCS]

if you are making what could become a quality bait and its yours then surely cost per kg is irrelevant. To catch on a good bait you don't need to apply a lot, so a high cost per kg to make is offset by the amount used.  Got to think firstly what are you trying to do with putting in a lot? retaining fish? it can serve to give so much choice the hookbait can be ignored for hours or completely. From experience fish will hang in an area if they feel safe and not bombed with spombs and spods etc. so a quietly introduced small patch will catch, i remember times when I'm running out of bait and think il do another night and i have the best fishing because I'm having to be sparing with bait. using the little trap approach is most often than not doing the opposite to 90% of all the anglers. let someone else pile in the bait and don't worry that you are not using tonnes, 2 factors is all i use first get on the fish or some of them and then small traps with good bait, it works for me.

[Carpbell_ll]

need to do a lot of fishing if you plump for all the rolling kit, it's not cheap for a good machine and to roll large amounts you would need one, it's a tricky balance of controlling the urge to to go full bore and soon lose interest due to being overwhelmed and being selective with a small batch mix, i think the JB super milk mix will be for me but not as a rolled bait a fresh past that i can change the flavour attraction depending on what else i'm using. would like to roll a large amount of my own but...hhhmmm

[Scoobycue]

The days of rolling your own being cost effective have gone. Fact!

If you roll your own it's down to personal satisfaction. In the 80s and 90s I rolled my own as it was cheaper then and the quality of my baits over the commercial alternatives were night and day.

That said some of you will get great pleasure and satisfaction when a bait you made works. I can also remember a bait I was rolling was slaying lakes but at Wraysbury the only thing I slayed was the Bream. I was absolutely gutted.

These days I love the convenience and the quality of commercial baits. I havent managed to do as many sessions as I would've liked but I've still had some great results on waters I've never fished.

Bottom line is you and only you can decide if the cost of making your own is worth it?