World's Largest Muskie

Hayward, Wisconsin, United States

Animals and creatures

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A walk-through sculpture of a leaping muskellunge, built in 1979 by sculptor Jerry Vettrus, stands at the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin. It is variously given as 143 or 145 feet long, and visitors can climb to its open jaw.

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World's Largest Muskie

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46.00851° N, 91.47922° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

At the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin, you can walk up the inside of a fish: a giant muskellunge, caught mid-leap, with an observation platform in its open mouth.

The Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce describes it as a "Shrine to Anglers", half a city block long and four and a half stories tall, made of concrete, steel and fibreglass, and surrounded by a quarter-acre nature pond. According to SAH Archipedia, the sculptor Jerry Vettrus, owner of Fiberglass Animals, Shapes, and Trademarks Corporation of Sparta, built the muskie in 1979 and installed a giant walleye the same year, later adding many more fish. Archipedia gives its length as 145 feet. Islands.com, in July 2025, gave 143 feet; Northern Wilds in 2024 also said 143. Heights are given variously as four, four and a half and five stories.

Islands.com says visitors enter through the tail and climb two flights of stairs to the jaw, which looks over Lake Hayward, with an 88,000-gallon pond below where people can fish. The Chamber says the jaw holds about 20 people. The grounds also include a sculpture garden of other giant fish.

The title is a claim rather than a ruling. Northern Wilds says Hayward claims the title of World's Largest Muskie, and Islands.com quotes the World Record Academy: "It's not just a sculpture, it's a shrine".

Inside, Travel Wisconsin says the Hall of Fame has 30,000 square feet of exhibits, including mounted trophy fish and vintage outboards, reels and lures, on six landscaped acres. The Hall of Fame is at 10360 Hall of Fame Drive, and it is best to check its seasonal dates, hours and admission before travelling.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A walk-through fish sculpture on the grounds of the Hall of Fame, with museum exhibits, a sculpture garden and a pond. Islands.com (2025) describes climbing stairs from the tail to the jaw. Check the Hall of Fame for dates, hours and admission.

ACCESS

National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, 10360 Hall of Fame Drive, Hayward, Wisconsin; phone 715-634-4440. The sculpture is on the Hall of Fame grounds; the jaw platform holds about 20 people, per the Hayward Area Chamber.

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