Just like their fishing lures, Dave and Cindy Hennings aren't letting the big one get away.

The Hartley couple has grown their small tackle business into quite the catch over the past decade. Dave started dabbling in creating his own lures roughly 15 years ago, and eventually spun his hobby into Hennings Tackle.

"The business is kind of growing itself, and we're just going to ride with it and do what we can," he said. "It's still very much a mom and pop deal."

Dave has been an avid outdoorsman for as long as he can remember – his father frequently took him fishing, camping and hunting when he was young. He carried that passion well into adulthood and served as a fishing guide on the Missouri River near Chamberlain, S.D., after he retired.

That's not where Hennings Tackle was born, though. After fighting with finicky walleye on Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota during a fishing tournament, Dave rigged up a hook with a small spinner and started reeling in keepers.

"Somebody said, 'You know, you should probably market those and sell those,' and that's how it all started," he recalled. "It's been quite a journey since."

Hennings Tackle offers thousands of different lures for most freshwater fish species. Dave tests out each lure himself, and also doles out free samples to other fishing guides, bait shop owners and friends. He uses their feedback to perfect each piece before putting it up for sale.

"When you factor in all the different hooks, beads, blade colors, we probably have over 5,000 different products," he said. "That's just a guess. We do a lot of custom work, too. If somebody wants something made to their specs, then they'll send those to me and I'll quote it and make it."

Cindy handles the business end of things. The couple recently published a catalogue and they've been frequenting outdoors expos across the upper Midwest.

"Cindy is such a huge part of this," Dave said. "She doesn't fish and she doesn't like the water, but she's good on the computer. This business is something that's brought us closer together, working with one another."

Cindy said she and Dave are comfortable in their roles with the business.

"You get him talking about fishing, and he's not going to stop," she said.

Hennings Tackle employs a small group of local residents to assemble lures. Dave still ties the hooks, and can complete roughly 100 in an hour.

Right now, he's working seven days a week to stock up on inventory for the spring fishing season.

"That's pretty much all I do. I sit here and tie hooks until my eyes cross," he said.

The Hennings have contemplated expanding their business to larger chain stores, but the demand would be more than they desire. Right now they're happy with their small crew. They pay their workers by the lure and have no plans to outsource work beyond people they know.

"I always have folks telling me they're willing to help out if we get behind on orders," Dave said. "We talked about moving everything to Chamberlain, but decided against it. I grew up here, and when I go to the grocery store, everyone knows my name. That's pretty special."

Dave estimated the business has grown by 40-50 percent over the past two years. He plans to stop guiding in South Dakota and focus on pumping out more lures.

"The sky's the limit," he said. "It's fun to develop a business from scratch and watch it grow."

NICK PEDLEY/SENTINEL-NEWS

Dave and Cindy Hennings operate their fishing tackle business out of their Hartley home.

The Hennings recently hired a marketing firm to help expand the business. Dave is trying to hone his social media acumen to reach anglers across the world, but admitted it's a learning experience.

"I think I know what I'm doing, but I'm still stumbling," he said.

The Hennings have been approached about selling their tackle business, but they have no plans to quit anytime soon.

"This is something I can do as I get older and it's fun," Dave said. "It's not a bad job at all...I'm in my element."