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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

The Sportsmen’s Club

A group that’s committed to Lake Vermilion’s future

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This week’s announcement that the Lake Vermilion Sportsmen’s Club will be receiving almost $286,000 through 2016 from St. Louis County to increase boat inspections on the county’s most heavily-traveled lake helped shine a light on an organization that has quietly turned into one of the premier lake associations in the state.

Local resort owners and anglers founded the Sportsmen’s Club back in 1968 with a mission to improve the walleye fishing on Lake Vermilion, and they jumped into the effort with both feet. Their efforts, and lobbying, helped prompt the Department of Natural Resources to restart operations at the Pike River Hatchery, which had closed in 1946. The fishing has improved dramatically since the group formed, and their efforts deserve much of the credit.

While the organization continues its mission to enhance fishing on Vermilion, it has taken on so much more over the years, thanks to the diverse interests, dedication, and professionalism of its exceptional board and all of its volunteers. Those volunteers have invested thousands of hours monitoring water quality, building day-use shore lunch sites, maintaining nighttime navigation lights, and promoting sound shoreline and watershed practices.

And the club has made a significant contribution to science with its annual loon count, which has helped provide reliable data on changes in the loon population on Vermilion— home to the largest number of loons of any lake in Minnesota. With more than 30 years of data, the Vermilion count is one of the longest-running citizen-led loon counts in Minnesota, and that makes it an increasingly valuable effort.

In more recent years, the club has led the fight to head off the introduction of aquatic invasive species into the lake and they have been remarkably effective. As the largest and most heavily-used lake in the county, Vermilion, by rights, should be overrun with invasive species. And while there have been setbacks, such as last week’s announcement of the existence of spiny waterfleas, overall the efforts of the Sportsmen’s Club appear to have paid off. There’s certainly more work to be done in this area, since the threat is ever-increasing, and that’s why the county’s investment in the group’s effort makes sense. The organization is well-positioned to implement an effective boat inspection and education effort, that will train dozens of new boat inspectors and raise awareness among thousands of boat users on the lake. Their partnership with the North St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District will further enhance the effectiveness of the effort.

With 2,400-members the Sportsmen’s Club is a force to be reckoned with and the group has quietly become the foremost protector of the lake on a whole host of fronts. The group deserves the appreciation of all lovers of Lake Vermilion. If you’re not currently a member, consider joining today. A family membership is just $20 a year. It’s a great investment in the future of Lake Vermilion.