Patti Perspective Spotlight: Dan Beaudoin

Dan Beaudoin started working at DMF Bait when he was about 8 years old. He would ride his bike after school and in the summer to the company that his father, Dan Sr., had started with his twin brother Mike, and their friend Fred.

Dan Sr., Mike, and Fred (DMF), were all high school teachers and began the bait business as a side hustle (before side hustles were a thing) in 1977. Mike taught English and Journalism, Fred taught math, and Dan taught technical classes like Shop, Electronics, and Computer Repairs. Their range of skills seemed to balance well in running the business. “Most businesses would have closed with the way that three teachers ran it,” Dan laughs. But the business got off the ground and gained traction.

In high school, Dan got on the pay roll and worked every job in the warehouse. Still, when he started college at Central Michigan, he intended to follow in his father’s original footsteps and majored in Education. “DMF was a business, but not a career,” he said of the time. However, in 1991, they landed Wal-Mart as a customer. The three original owners retired from teaching because things were starting to boom. Realizing the opportunity the company could afford, his junior year, Dan switched his major to business with a concentration in Product Operations and minor in Communication. He started working the day after graduation in 1997 because by May, the busy season is in full swing.

Now, the company is owned 100% by Dan, his aunt Mary Smith, and Fred’s son, Chris. They are the world’s largest distributor of packaged bait and have nearly tripled sales since 2000. While they have hundreds of competitors, the largest is only about 10-15% of their size. From that first Wal-Mart placement, they’re now in most of the big box stores including Meijer, Dunham’s Sports, Academy Sports, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Bass Pro Shops. They’re now venturing into convenience stores. The company employees 65 people full time, with 95 during peak season.

“I’m very fortunate; I enjoy coming to work. There’s always something here to challenge me mentally. We’re king as far as live bait goes but I don’t want to become complacent. I’m always wondering, ‘What can we do to improve?’ There’s always a new challenge,” Dan says. “I have a unique position, focusing on employees, sales, production, automation. etc. I wear all kinds of hats, but I try to keep the vision of the company in front.”

One of the current mental challenges for Dan is improving and growing within their limited space. Since 1997, they have implemented several automation solutions beginning with a lidding machine. Later, they added dirt dispensing which was more of a challenge to develop. They found a standard machine and made a lot of modifications. “Filling peat is difficult to dispense given the speed and amount,” Dan says. Their most recent project, of course, is the diverter featured in the article above. They would like to continue to improve with another diverter and possibly robotic packing soon.

This month, DMF Bait celebrated 40 years in business with an open house party for employees, customers, partners, and community officials. After 20 years “officially” in the business himself, what advice does Dan have? “You’ve got to have patience and you got to be open minded. If you pigeon-hole yourself in your own beliefs, you’re liable to get passed by. You got to be stubborn from a perseverance standpoint, but you got to be willing to listen. There’s no perfect business owner, and you got to listen to each other.”


Dan is the father of four: 1 boy and 3 girls between the ages of 8 and 16. As a family, they enjoy water-related hobbies like swimming and boating. They’ve taken cruises and took a trip to the Outer Banks this summer. Dan himself enjoys the fall – especially hunting and football, where he roots for the Lions. DMF Bait may well see a third generation as his oldest has expressed interest!

DMF FAQs

How long can you store the worms at the warehouse?

As long as we want.

How long do the worms live in a cup?

6-8 weeks

What are some of your more unusual products?

• The butter worm from Chile. It’s a larva of a moth and it’s the diameter of a pen.  Look like a maggot but about 5-6x the size. They go into a treatment so that
  don’t turn into moths.  Primarily used for ice fishing and in the spring for trout, pan fish and for reptile feed. 

• Green worms. They’re mostly used by walleye fisherman and bass fisherman.