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Back in 2014, angler, author and bait fanatic Anthony Wood bought one of the only Boilie Roller models available. It revolutionised his bait making and, now the manufacturer is looking for distributors worldwide, he believes the time is right for it to shine.

I had always been happy with using cheap rolling tables and a kitchen mixing bowl as I’d only ever made baits for me and usually only made a maximum of 2kg or maybe 3kg of boilies at a time and I never thought I would see myself with a boilie rolling machine rather than a simple rolling table.

However, since starting my ‘Homemade Boilies Facebook page (also back in 2014 – I’ve been making my own bait since I was nine, which is now 37 years ago) one question that I was always regularly asked is can I recommend a good boilie rolling machine and I had always had to say no as I don’t use them.

Back then I found myself in a position to get a rolling machine and decided to take the plunge as I had used the same size 14mm rolling tables for as long as I can remember. I thought, since I am going to be using new size boilies, why not see what machines are out there and give one of them a try.

Looking around I found several machines but there was one that really caught my eye and its dimensions allowed it to fit perfectly in my existing boilie making workspace.

 

Going in deep

I took the plunge and ordered a Manual 18mm Boilie Roller from a company I found in Lithuania. The machine came in at just under £280 plus delivery to my door at the time of purchase (obviously delivery depends where you are in the world) which I thought was a very reasonable price considering some I had been looking at.

Since I purchased my 18mm model (the only size available at the time), BoilieRoller has since brought out five different size models and the motor is now stronger with speed control. However, I have so far not needed to upgrade as my original machine is still going strong, as is the motor, seven years later.

On unwrapping the BoilieRoller, I was impressed with how well it was packaged and it even came with a hard plastic nozzle for your boilie gun and a plastic tray to catch your boilies in.

Having taken it out of the packaging I realised that the base was secured to a piece of wood and the polystyrene underneath by four securing screws which are meant to be screwed into whichever surface you plan on putting your machine on.

I immediately saw an advantage of leaving the machine attached to these pieces as I wanted to be able to pull the machine out from under the cupboards when I wanted to use it and push it back when finished and this was ideal for that.

Having a close look at the machine I was very impressed with how well it was built and how sturdy it was. I also liked the fact that could either purchase the machine with a motor or, as I did, initially purchase it as a manual machine although I soon added the motor as it made it so much easier.

 

Tried and tested

I decided to test the machine using a new recipe that I had been working on but that had already caught me several fish in the time I’d been testing it. The recipe, if you would like to try it yourself, is:

 

250g Haith’s CLO

250g Fine Tiger Nut Flour

125g Ground Halibut Pellets

125g Crushed Hemp Seed

100g Haith’s Robin Red

100g Semolina

50g Egg Albumin

3 Large Eggs

10ml Hemp Oil

1ml Feed Stimulants Fenugreek Liquid

1tsp Ultra Sweetener

10g Potassium Sorbate Granules diluted in 20ml warm water

 

So I had the machine and I had the boilie sausages made up and placed on the top of the machine ready to roll in to the machine, it was time to turn the handle and see what happened.

Well, before I knew it I had done all of the sausages and had a very nice pile of well-formed 18mm dough balls sat in the tray at the bottom of the machine. What would have taken me maybe five minutes on a rolling table took around 20 seconds using this boilie roller.

All I can say – and this is honestly from the bottom of my heart – is why on earth had I not purchased one of these machines before? It made my bait making instantly easier and I wholeheartedly recommend this machine to anyone who is considering buying one.

I used to have the attitude of “I don’t make many at a time so don’t need a fancy machine” but oh my goodness if you are fortunate enough to be in the position to be able to afford one, don’t think about it just go and buy one.

I cannot believe how much easier it makes rolling boilies, they are also perfectly formed.

Do I have any negatives? Not about the machine itself, it is absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t be happier. The only negative that I could possibly come up with is that the tray to catch your dough balls as they come out is a little on the small side.

So, all in all, I am 100 per cent happy I got this machine and, now that I’ve used it, I can’t believe it took me that long to get one.

 

I hope you’ve found this review useful and you can find more of my recipes and info on bait in my book here: tinyurl.com/6c7bs8tp

To become a distributor or find out more visit BoilieRoller’s dedicated trade website: www.boilieroller.com/b2b

Author Anthony Wood.