Nevis Tiger Muskie

Nevis, Minnesota, United States

Animals and creatures

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Nevis Tiger Muskie is a wooden fish sculpture in Nevis, Minnesota, dated to 1949 by most sources and said to have been built to draw summer tourists. Northern Wilds Magazine (2024) gives its length as 30.5 feet, and the town's Muskie Days events in July 2024 included activities at the statue.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Nevis Tiger Muskie

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Approximate location · 46.972° N, 94.815° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

In 2024, Nevis had a wooden tiger muskie and a July festival, Muskie Days, with events at the statue. A tiger muskie is the sterile offspring of a muskellunge and a northern pike, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, as reported by the Forum in 2007.

Northern Wilds Magazine (2024) gives the sculpture's length as 30.5 feet, made of cedar and redwood and covered with scales made of concrete, and lists it among Minnesota fish statues claiming "World's Largest" status. The Forum measured it differently in 2007, describing it as more than 20 feet long. The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer said in 2011 that it was sculpted in wood and plaster in 1949, and that Governor Luther Youngdahl dedicated it as the world's largest at the first Muskie Days in July 1950.

The Forum reported that it was constructed in the late 1940s when local businessmen were looking to draw summer tourists, and that they considered a log cabin before choosing a fish. A different account reached Park Rapids Enterprise in 2018, when relatives of taxidermist Warren P. Ballard said he and his son began building the muskie in 1932 outside his shop. One relative recalled that it was first painted to look like a muskie from Lake Belle Taine, with wooden teeth, and believed it was repainted when a shelter was put over it.

The Enterprise described the statue in 2018 as standing in Muskie Park in the centre of town. In July 2024 the Enterprise reported the 73rd annual festival, with water wars on the street in front of the statue and 257 runners finishing the Muskie 5K. The Brainerd Dispatch's preview of that festival had scheduled a school robotics exhibition and 5K registration at the statue. A photograph in the Enterprise report shows a child in the muskie's mouth.

Visit when the festival is on if you want the crowds, or at any other time to see the fish on its own.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

A large wooden fish sculpture in Muskie Park in Nevis, with a shelter over it according to 2018 reporting. In July 2024 the festival's street water wars took place in front of the statue; the Brainerd Dispatch preview said admission was free to the music performances.

ACCESS

The statue stands in Muskie Park in the centre of Nevis, Minnesota (Park Rapids Enterprise, 2018). Muskie Days, held in July (2024 coverage), includes events at the statue.

COMMUNITY