Wisconsin's most storied fishing river has two new books to tell its story.
"Boys of the Brule, Centuries on Comradery on Wisconsin's River of Presidents" is the latest effort (227 pages, published late 2018) to chronicle what's so special about the Bois Brule River.
Author Ross Fruen of Minneapolis tells stories that go back to prehistoric Indians and Daniel Greysolon Sieur Duluth. But the book focuses most on Fruen's family, friends and fishing history. Fruen's family has ties to the river going back seven generations and still maintain a cabin on the river _ Noyes Camp. Fruen's great-grandparents were George and Agnes Haskell Noyes, who established a family camp and tradition on the Brule in the late 1800s.
The book is more about people who spent summers along the river than the river itself or the fish that swim in it. But it's a good read for anyone who keeps the river in a special place in their heart, as does Fruen.
"Boys of the Brule" is available for $18.95 from Cable Publishing in Brule.
Perhaps no one wrote as much or as well about the Brule River as Gordon MacQuarrie.
Born in Superior in 1900, MacQuarrie worked as a newsman at the Superior Daily Telegram from 1925 to 1936. In April 1936, he became outdoors editor at the Milwaukee Daily Journal and held that position until he died in 1956. On many of his trips to the Brule, MacQuarrie was accompanied by a character he referred to as the President of the Old Duck Hunters Association Inc. That man was MacQuarrie's father-in-law, Al Peck, a Superior car dealer.
About half the stories in the Duck Hunters trilogy are about fishing, and many of them are about MacQuarrie's beloved Brule. It was published in 1985 in a three-book set from Willow Creek Press in Minocqua, Wis.
"Right off the Reel," 222 pages and published in 2018 is a collection of 84 of MacQuarrie's Milwaukee Journal columns written between 1936 and 1956. Again, the Brule is only part of the subject material, but it's good stuff, including the book's very first column. The book, edited and compiled by retired DNR biologist Dave Evenson of Cumberland, was published by the Barnes Area Historical Society and all proceeds go to the association which supports a MacQuarrie Museum and library in the area of MacQuarrie's former cabin on Middle Eau Claire Lake.
Here are some other easy reads about the Brule:
_ "The Brule River: A Guide's Story"
After many decades of fishing and guiding trout fisherman in northern Wisconsin, author Lawrence Berube decided to write about his experiences. The book includes 22 illustrations from the famous Brule and other rivers.
The book is only 80 pages but has a lot of interesting anecdotes. Self-published in 1998 by Berube in association with Arrowhead Printing.
_ "I was a Guide for Three U.S. Presidents"
Steve Weyandt was one of the best-ever guides on the Brule River and these are the stories he told about his times, written and self-published by his wife, Dorothy Weyandt, in 1976.
Wetyandt guided on the Brule for Coolidge, Hoover and Eisenhower. 298 pages.
_ "The Brule River of Wisconsin: Second Edition"
Published in 1956 then updated in 2011 by Leigh P. Jerrard and Richard Jerrard.
Leigh Jerrard's concise 1956 history of the famous trout stream has been greatly expanded and updated.
The Brule's famous trout fishery is traced from the early years of rampant fish stocking and commercial harvesting, through Henry Clay Pierce's controversial rerouting of the stream around the Cedar Island sloughs in the 1890s. Early conservation laws written specifically for the Brule River fishery are detailed, as are the workings of the charismatic Sid Gordon, who designed and supervised the building of hundreds of "stream improvement" structures on the river during the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps years. The war against the invasive, parasitic sea lamprey and the lamprey's damage to the fishery is included in the book, including the history of efforts to keep lamprey from spawning in the Brule.
_ "Brethren of the Brule: Forty Years Steelheading"
William "Brother Bill" Bauer of Ladysmith. Wis., self-published this book in 1984 (updated in 1995) and filled it with stories of fishing for steelhead with his buddies. The surgeon waxes nostalgic of bigger steelhead runs and why fishing numbers declined over his lifetime. He has lots of opinions. There are also tips on how to catch steelhead and some interesting observations about trout habits.
Mostly, of course, it's about his favorite place in the world _ the Brule. Published by Bawden Printing in Iowa. 208 pages.
