Brule River Sportsmen's Club
Representing over 600 members worlwide
History Of The Club
By Larry Drews, in Collaboration with Larry Denston
The Brule River Sportsmen's Club obtained it's charter on July 3, 1968 at which time it had a membership of 127. The Club had it's beginning, however, six years before when a small group of individuals, namely Tom Johnson, Larry Denston and Ray Miller met at Jack & Edna's Tavern with other anglers who aired their gripes about the fishery (possibly over a few beers) and decided that a Sportsmen's Club should be formed in order to better address the concerns they had about the Brule River. Their main concern, as well as many other anglers, was the decline of steelhead and brown trout fishery.
Considerable interest was evident so each person was asked to join the new Club by contributing $5.00 for a membership. In the beginning there were no regular meetings and no officers. Money was collected and a list of members was maintained by Louise Denston, who with her husband, Larry, operated Jack and Edna's Tavern. Membership soon grew to 20 or more fishermen. Meetings were not held on a regular basis, but were called occasionally in the back room at Jack & Edna's. Other early members to join were John Lee, Walt Muttenen, Edna Anderson, Emil Tahtinen, Arnie Schultz, Roger Martin Jimmy Killoren, Dick Pariso, John Rogers, Roy Lyons and Phil Larson. Most members of the new Club attributed the decline in fishing success to the development of a sand bar over the mouth of the Brule over a period of years, causing the entrance into the Lake to move to the west by several hundred feet and reduced the depth to only two or four feet, which many thought impeded the migration of trout into the river.
Years before the entrance ran straight out into the Lake with a depth of about 8 or 10 feet. But at that time the mouth of the stream was protected by some old pilings which were the remains of a pier used by sailing vessels in the early 1800's to load logs which were floated down the river during the logging days. This pier and the pilings deteriorated and disappeared gradually over a long period of years, mainly due to weather and ice conditions.The first Club project was an attempt to reestablish the old location of the entrance of the Brule River into Lake Superior. Original thoughts of doing this without DNR approval were discarded after due deliberation. Permits and help from the DNR were soon received and the work was completed. However this turned out to be a fiasco. Heavy storms and high waves soon replaced the sand at the entrance where it was removed so nothing was accomplished.
Thereafter, no further attempt was made to change the course of the river.The membership of the Brule River Sportsmen's Club grew slowly during the next few years. In 1965 under the leadership of several new energetic members it was decided to have a drive to increase the membership to over 100 in order to qualify for a charter. At this time, Harvey Stipe, a new resident in Brule joined the Club and was appointed as chairman of a committee to draw up the Constitution and By-Laws and apply for a charter. After diligent effort on the part of many members this was accomplished by July 3, 1968. Dues were set at $3.00 per year and officers were elected as follows:Tom Johnson, PresidentWalt Muttenen, Vice President Larry Denston, Treasurer Harvey Stipe, Secretary Reino Perala, Attorney.
During many years thereafter the Club continued normal activities for the preservation and improvement of the river. Many people enjoyed the river for fishing, camping, hiking, etc. Tubing (the use of inflated inner tubes to float down the river) also became very popular and reached proportions which created user conflicts, causing many complaints from fishermen, canoeists, and property owners. The Brule River Sportsmen's Club took the attitude that tubing on a pristine river like the Brule is an unwarranted violation of that resource and should be prohibited.In 1976 the DNR began work on the Master Plan the Brule River which included the proposal to ban tubing on the Brule. In 1979 the Legislative Commission headed by Don Simonds endorsed the proposal by the Natural Resources Board to seek legislation prohibiting tubing on the Brule River. It took two years of effort by the Legislative Committee and members such as Roger Anderson, the Club's president, and Carl Runge, a Madison University law professor and Brule River resident, to lobby legislators and testify at three public hearings before Bill S-351 passed the State Senate and Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Dreyfus.
By 1981 the Club's paid up membership increased to 619 with continued growth anticipated in year ahead.