Hi-Line Living: Providing bait on the Hi-Line

A small business started with a bait machine listed for sale on Facebook, and two sisters who are passionate about fishing.

Gracee Hencz, 13, an upcoming eighth-grader at Havre Middle School and Hallee Hencz, 9, an upcoming fourth-grader at Sunnyside Intermediate School, are co-owners of G & H Bait.

"We provide bait for fishermen who want to go fishing," Gracee Hencz said.

G & H Bait is located outside of Bear Paw Meats at 1705 Fifth Ave. in Havre.

G & H began July 2017 when Matt Hencz, the girls' father, saw a bait machine listed for sale on Facebook - the bait machine that was already located at Bear Paw Meats. They got a good deal on it for $1,000, and since the girls are the ones who run it, they made a deal with their dad to pay him back $1,001.

The worms they stock their bait machine with are from Pyror Creek Bait Company out of Billings, and the containers the bait is sold in are from Pennsylvania.

The girls check the machine every day to see if the bait needs to be restocked and often refill bait machine once or twice a week. During busy weeks, especially when there's a holiday or an event, it gets filled more often than that.

"Fourth of July and Memorial Day are the big weekends, if it is nice," the girls' mom, Miranda Hencz, said.

Each container of bait sold has 24 nightcrawlers that the girls count by hand. They fill about 24 containers to fill the six slots in the bait machine. On average, they receive about 2,000 worms per shipment.

The bait-filled container is sold for $5, and the profits from the machine go toward goals set by the sisters. Right now, the money is being raised for Gracee to go on a school science trip to the Florida Everglades. Otherwise, the money goes toward the girls' college funds.

Their business isn't just about making money. The girls love to fish, as well.

"Our favorite fish is the walleye fish," the girls said.

The girls also have other hobbies beyond fishing. Gracee enjoys drawing and painting.

"My favorite thing to paint or draw is sunsets," she said.

Hallee enjoys being active, like riding her bike.

The Hencz sisters plan on continuing to run G & H bait until Gracee goes off to college.

The sisters said if anyone runs into trouble with the machine, they should go into Bear Paw Meats, and they will give them their money back. The girls settle up with them later.

The girls' parents said that Bear Paw Meats has been helpful and awesome for the girls.

"Well, it has been a great learning experience," Miranda Hencz added.

Gracee wanted a job and when the bait machine came up for sale, the family thought it would be a pretty painless job, and a learning experience. Each girl is responsible for some part of the business that teaches them about profits and losses.

Gracee is in charge of handling the spreadsheet in order to track what is going on.

"I've learned the most on counting, counting worms," Hallee said.

"I learned how to do a spreadsheet. I never really knew how it worked," Gracee said. "I figured you just typed the money in where you want, there is a lot more to it than that."

A key learning point both agreed on is how people have to pay attention to their business or else it isn't very good and people won't want to come back.

On a good week the girls can bring in $50 to $60.

"It has been a good starter business for them, and learning, and once they start driving they will be able to handle it all on their own," Miranda Hencz said. "It is fun watching them when they see that their efforts are paying off."