articles from January, 1992 newsletter:
President's Message
The Board of Directors of SCLV is happy to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and healthy New Year. The winter snows have once again come to Lake Vermilion, creating a scene of peace and beauty, completing the fourth and last of our changing seasons. This is our quiet time. We need that too.
But I must confess to you I too have joined the ranks of the snowbirds, temporarily at least. I am visiting with my brother for a few weeks down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This too is beautiful country. God must have had some things left over after He finished Minnesota and gave them to these folks down here. There are glorious oak trees shrouding stately old homes which overlook what seems like endless miles of sand beaches. The Gulf itself, pale blue and green, ends where it meets the sky and is spotted by tiny shrimp and oyster boats as they ply their trade. Since I am interested in any body of water and what swims in it, I went fishing. I caught what they call mullet. To me they looked like a snake and tasted like bacon. It was not Vermilion walleye. Not even close. God must have not had any walleyes left over.
My point, if there has to be a point, is that we each seem to have our favorite place on this earth. For me, and I suspect for most of you, that place happens to be Lake Vermilion. And since the Christmas Season is a time for the giving of gifts, the expression of love and care, let's be sure to include our Lake on our shopping lists. Please join with the Club in an active manner to provide her with the gift of protection.
Together and in cooperation with the agencies we can promote the concept of sustainable yield from our Lake's resources. She will in return give us the gift of renewal. When we see a mess we can clean it up; or better yet we can teach those who are responsible not to make the mess in the first place. The most important gift we can give to Lake Vermilion is our respect. She will return that gift, many, many fold, in each of the days that we know her. Any doubts? Well, then just go on down to a dock and check out the next available sunset.
Happy New Year, and
See you on the Lake,
Sparky,
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Here's a Gift Idea for the Wildlife . . .
Wondering what to get your wildlife neighbors? The Minnesota DNR has a special packet of tree and shrub planting stock that can be ordered this winter for spring planting. The seedlings will provide food and cover for wildlife and is a mixture of Crabappie, Wild Plum, Ginnala Maple, Juneberry, Buffaloberry, Chokecherry, Cotoneaster, Nanking Cherry and Washington Hawthorne.
The four-season wildlife food planting stock is being sold in packets of 500 seedlings for $160, plus tax. Order forms can be obtained from the DNR-Forestry offices in Tower and Cook, or from the DNR Forestry Division, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-4044.
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Battle of the Sexes by Jeanne Franson
Mother Nature had been doing such a good job on Lake Vermilion. This past summer she gave us all the warm sunshine and rain that were needed to grow our vegetable and flower gardens. She gave us perfect days for boating and fishing. She really outdid herself with her fall color display. It was spectacular!
Having worked so hard, Mother Nature decided it was time to take a vacation, to which we were all looking forward to her taking, so we could have a long, warm fall in which to get ready for winter. She called Old Man Winter and told him to keep an eye on things while she took the time off. Well, that was a big mistake. No woman was going to tell him what to do! On Halloween he showed her and us that he wasn't the "caretaker." ALL ---- (SNOW) HIT THE FAN!
While the Old Man was snowing Mother Nature, who can't be fooled by any man, she started her revenge. She got North Wind to blow. That made the Old Man even madder and the snow kept coming. Wind, snow, wind, snow, deeper and deeper until by Sunday the two of them had created a winter wonderland of havoc. No one was prepared for this. While everyone agreed this was too early for winter, no one really believed that all this snow would melt. In the meantime the tempers of Human Nature took over. "Can't you help shovel?" "Can't you wipe your feet?" "The snow is making puddles on my carpeting." "How come you didn't buy more groceries when you were out last week?" "No, we can't go out for supper because the truck is stuck in the driveway." We had two choices: hibernate or take up the task of digging out. l'm glad we did the latter because I heard of a couple of pregnancies and I took my turns, thank you, now I'm content to be grandma.
By the time Mother Nature started to calm Old Man Winter down on Sunday, there was nearly three feet of snow. For those who had a plow, it was tough going. The snow was so sticky and so deep it was almost impossible to move. Deer season was coming soon and the thought of trying to walk where it had drifted was a major problem. Do you realize the average adult has an inseam of 32"? Now you know where the snow was up to.
The feud continued between Mother Nature and Old Man Winter. They are both so stubborn (of course none of us are that way), but it was affecting their ability to function with any good common sense. A couple of days later she blanketed the lake with a sheet of ice. There were many boats and docks that hadn't been put away for the season which were now stuck in the ice. What a mess! l'm sure there were a few more battles of the sexes over that. "I told you we wouldn't be boat riding anymore." "You said there would be plenty of time to take the boat out after deer season." "Now look at the work you've made for yourself just because you were trying to prolong fall!"
Every once in awhile we think Mother Nature and Old Man Winter must be settling their differences becase she will give us a few nice days when the snow actually will melt, but then she must do something to irritate the Old Man and he gives us another dose of snow. If they don't find a way to get along soon, we just might have to call on the Abominable Snowman to counsel them.
Human Nature will probably be able to handle winter from here on out if, her "temper" (ature) remains calm and he remains "mild," so that we can enjoy our snowmobiling, ice fishing and other winter activities. However, it looks like we are in for a long winter so be aware that the "battle" might be a tough one. Stay warm. Stay happy.
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Firearms Deer Hunters Set a Record Harvest
The firearms deer harvest in the Eveleth Wildlife area increased by 6% from 1990. Thirty-six registration stations in central and northern St. Louis County registered 6,980 deer in 1991 compared to 6,590 in 1990.
In the seven county northeast region of the state the deer harvest increased 15% from 1990. The total harvest for 1991 was 34,372 compared to 29,264 in 1990.
Both the local harvest and regional harvest represent the highest recorded harvest since deer registration became mandatory. As recently as 1986 the Eveleth Area deer harvest was 5,105 and the regional harvest 21,671. This year's harvest is 38% and 59% higher respectively.
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Newly elected board members (from the left): Barb Shook, Pat Patrow, Pattie Bergstrom and Rick Pearson were introduced at the club's 1991 annual dinner meeting Aug. 3 in Tower. The foursome will serve three-year terms from Aug. 1, 1991, until Aug. 1, 1994.
Retiring board member Jim Charles (right) was honored at the club's 23rd annual meeting held Saturday, Aug. 3, 1991, at the Tower Civic Center. Club president Jack Sparks presented Jim with a commemorative plaque and thanked him on behalf of the membership for his many years of service on the board of directors.
Meet our Newest Board Member . . .
Welcome aboard, PATTIE BORGSTROM, as a new member of the club's Board of Directors. Pattie was elected at the club's annual meeting in August to fill the board spot vacated by Jim Charles.
A long-time club member and daughter of former director Ruth Murphy, Pattie has been an active volunteer for us for many years -- tagging walleyes, helping with the sucker sale and working on shoreline cleanup. Pattie is an avid outdoorsperson and enjoys swimming, fishing, grouse hunting, snow-skiing and snowmobiling. She taught canoeing at the environmental camp at Camp Vermilion and was a swimming instructor at McKinley Park beach. More recently you may have seen her working at Moccasin Point during the summer months.
Pattie, husband Dick and daughter Danielle are year-round residents on Partridge Drive near Moccasin Point.
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More Muskies
About the middle of October I phoned Duane Williams over at the DNR Fisheries office in Winton and asked him if we were going to get some more muskies. "Sure," he said, "they are going to dump 2,000 over at 'Moc Point' the day after tomorrow." Well, I stayed on the horn and called a few of the troops and we were waiting on the truck when it came in. What we saw there was simply spectacular.
The truck backed up to the end of the dock, the boys pulled out a tube, and squirted 2,100 Mississippi-strain muskies out into Lake Vermilion in about 10 minutes. They were beautiful, six to 10 inches long and healthy. Did you ever see a mad pit bull dog? Well, these fish had that same look in their eyes and seemed to be wanting to say, "Now just where are all those suckers and other rough fish you want us to eat?"
Five years ago when the DNR first started talking about putting muskies in Lake Vermilion, I had some concerns. What if they ate our walleyes? Bob Daggit, then club president, and I jumped in the car and drove over to Fisheries for a talk. They answered what questions we could think to ask, but more importantly, they made arrangements for me to meet with Mr. Frank Schnider, the president of the Minnesota chapter of Muskies Inc. In fact, Frank drove up from the southern part of the state to see me. When he got here we went fishing, because I know that you can get a lot of good answers when you are out in a boat. He shot it to me straight. Yes, they will eat some walleyes; they know what tastes good too. Now please bear in mind, this man knows more about a muskie than a muskie's mama does. He told me that, while the muskies will skarf up some walleyes, our lake will be better off with them than without, simply because of the rough fish they eat. I can recall some years at the Pike River Hatchery when the DNR is stripping, the sucker take is not too far short of the walleye numbers. These suckers are in there for two reasons. They eat walleye eggs and fry. And then, they spawn. l'd say, let the muskies have them.
The DNR program calls for stocking up to 5,000 muskie fingerlings per year in our lake. This year our local rearing ponds didn't do as well as in other years, so they brought in some from the southern part of the state. We are not certain if a natural spawn will occur with these fish, but with 5,000 per season, we will have a fishery. My boat hooked and released six muskies last summer. Two were over the 36-inch size limit. I will promise you this, they hit hard, dig deep, and just when you think they are getting tired, they'll come blasting up to the surface and splash water in your face. Then the real fight starts after you get the fish in the boat, so have your tackle box closed. Tape your socks on good and go muskie fishing. A seat belt may even be in order.
See you on the Lake,
Sparky
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Membership Notes
I have some good news and some bad news. The good news first. This past summer was probably the best "recruiting" year in a long time. We have received over 200 new members thanks to great efforts of Pat Patrow, by far the best "signer-upper"!
Now the bad news. I also have over 200 members in the files who have not renewed their membership in over two years. They will have to be dropped from the mailing list. What with the cost of billing statements, membership cards, postage, etc., etc., etc. we just cannot afford to carry members longer than that. We all feel that your membership money should be used in more constructive ways for projects of particular benefit to the lake.
So please, when your billing statement arrives in January -- join us again! We need to hear from you! It's a big boost to know that our members support our efforts. If we who have Lake Vermilion don't monitor and care what happens in and around it -- who will?
Barb Shook
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