Lots of changes at the gravel pit out east

Last week brought a lot of changes to the gravel pit out by Grande Corner, about 12 miles east of Grygla, with some still to come!

As many know, the gravel pit is visited by many locals who enjoy dropping a fishing line in or catching some sun on the beach, or playing in the water. Well, over the years, the brush has grown up, making the beach area shrink down to a pretty small area. 

With the DNR taking the time to stock the fish, and visiting the spot frequently, they suggested to Fourtown/Grygla Sportsman’s Club member and Eagle Editor, Kari Sundberg, about looking into a fishing pier, providing a safe place for people to fish. That got the ball rolling with all sorts of fun. Kari brought the idea back to the Sportsman’s Club meeting, where it was very well received, and a small committee was formed to make some improvements to the outdoor recreation area. The gravel pit is on public land, but the gravel rights belong to Holthusen Construction, so the first step in everything was meeting with them. The Fourtown/Grygla Sportsman’s Club members who are on the committee include Robert & Kari Sundberg, Jeremy & Tonia Haack, Carson & Missy Saurdiff, Jack Nelson, and Blair & Denise Holthusen.

Beach

After receiving the support of Holthusen’s Construction, and consulting with them on beach expansion, creating more room for families and individuals, all the while staying safely out of Holthusen’s way, allowing them to continue their daily operations there, a plan was formed Thursday evening and the work began right away the next morning. Holthusen Construction cleared the entire east and south sides of brush and rocks, creating a huge beach space that made the entire shore sure look different. It exceeded the hopes and expectations greatly! They deserve a huge thank you for being on board with the bigger beach idea, and tackling it without hesitation.

Fire pit

Sundbergs will be doing some work out there this week that includes dragging the beach areas and putting in a fire pit. It is the hope that people respect the area, pitch in and pick up, leaving it clean for the next person. The fire pit will be placed on the east side, near the rock border that Holthusen Construction set up, which also makes for a great parking spot to keep vehicles off the newly-made beach.

Keep it clean

Signage will be getting ordered within the next week, instructing visitors to help maintain the cleanliness of the area. There is still a garbage barrel on site that will be getting dumped by Sportsman’s Club members from time to time, however, there are bears in the area, as well as people who don’t pick up after themselves, but if everyone can pitch in to keep the area clean, it will continue to be a great outdoor recreation spot.

DNR fish stocking

Also added to the pit last week was 375 pounds of fish, which happens annually by the MN DNR. That process was very interesting to get in on. The fish came out of Balm and Dellwater Lakes, near Clearbrook. In a nutshell, DNR Fisheries Specialist Mike Rolf explained that they place trap nets in the lake overnight. One single panel runs from the shore out; fish run into it, get funneled into a rectangular frame that necks down to a circular frame and that’s how most are caught. The day they pulled the nets, specialists also caught a few by Electrofishing, which temporarily stuns the fish, bringing them to the surface. Stocked at the gravel pit on Thursday were 285 lbs of bluegills, 42 lbs of pumpkinseed sunfish, 14 lbs of crappies and 35 lbs of largemouth bass.

Fishing Pier

As mentioned previously, this all began with the idea of a fishing pier, mentioned by Andrew Thompson, Assistant Area Supervisor, Section of Fisheries. Update to share on that project: Kari Sundberg has been in contact with a few different companies to get ideas, including the City of Clearbrook, who recently installed a fishing pier with the help of a grant. After receiving 3D images of pier/dock options, along with quotes, Sundberg applied for an $18,000 grant through Beltrami County PILT funds. The awards will be announced sometime in June. The grant app sounds hopeful, but there are a few other funding options to explore if the grant dollars are not awarded. More information to come once that is determined and announced. MN Boardwalk LLC is the company undertaking the project. They are pushed out until August anyway, so we’re looking at later summer/early fall before that addition that we feel hopeful about, which is also one Holthusen Construction supports. We’ll all be working together to determine the best location of a floating pier, allowing Blair and his crew to still go in and dig, if needed.

Working together

With this being such a fun spot that is frequented by a lot of locals, just use this reminder to work together on keeping the area clean. Pitch in, pick up, leave the area clean for the next family of fishermen, beach goers, or folks who just want to enjoy the outdoor area. For the most part, it’s well-taken care of and picked up by people, but there has been patio furniture and shingles dumped on site, garbage left behind, glass bottles on the sand, people ripping up the beach, etc. Let’s all be respectful of the area that’s open to us as a privilege. We are so fortunate to have that area here and it’d be such a bummer to lose it. 

Pitch in. Pick up. Be kind.