LAKE VERMILION— When it comes to world class musky, it’s tough to beat Lake Vermilion. Just ask any of the 225 musky anglers from across the country who competed in Musky Hunter Magazine’s annual Fall Meltdown competition, held on Vermilion earlier this month.

Those anglers, who competed in two-person teams, netted a total of 79 muskies. Considering just over 100 teams took part, that’s an astonishing catch rate, and the haul included a monstrous 57-1/2-inch cruiser, caught by a team from southern Minnesota. It was the largest musky ever recorded during a Professional Musky Tournament Trail event.

It was probably also the highest catch rate ever in such a tournament, according to Terry Sjoberg, a Lake Vermilion musky guide who noted that the musky action on the big lake has been unprecedented this year. “Normally, you expect a 15-percent catch rate at these kinds of events,” said Sjoberg.

The musky action was so hot, in fact, that the team that landed the record musky barely finished in the top 20.

A father-son team from Virginia, Minn., including Andrew and Bob Judnick, boated five musky between 43-3/4 inches and 50-3/4 inches, and took the top prize. And Andrew earned his final fish of the event the hard way. After hooking the fish near the boat, the lure became entangled in the net. As Andrew leaned over the side to try to grab the musky by the tail, he slipped and fell overboard. Still, with his right hand on the boat railing, he grabbed the fish around the midsection with his left arm and helped his father wrangle the fish into the net.

It may have been fishing the hard way, but it netted the father and son $16,000 and a pair of trophies.

Meanwhile, other local anglers finished in the top five in the national event. Tower area fisherman Tony Weisner took fourth place, while Connor Cusack and Matt Snyder, also of Tower, finished in fifth.

The winning teams all boated multiple muskies during the two-day event, which has become almost the norm for experienced musky anglers on the lake this summer. While last year’s cool and often inclement weather made for a mediocre bite, Sjoberg said the weather stars have aligned this year to make for some of the best musky action he’s seen in years. Sjoberg said the mild weather was ideal for the Aug. 7-8 musky tournament. “Musky guys dream of a day like that,” he said, noting that the contestants boated 50 musky on the opening day alone.

But it wasn’t just a couple perfect musky days that made the difference. Sjoberg said consistently mild weather has made this summer one of the best for musky in some time. “I’m already way ahead of where I was for all of last year,” said Sjoberg, who noted that at least a couple months of prime musky hunting are still ahead. “This year, I don’t remember more than one or two trips where we didn’t catch a fish and I’ve had several multi-fish days,” he said.

Andrew Judnick, who guides part-time on Vermilion himself, agrees. “All of July was good and August has been really good,” he said.

This year’s success comes even as Vermilion has seen tremendous fishing pressure on the species, which has tended to make the fishing a bit tougher. While musky anglers almost always practice catch and release, fishing pressure doesn’t deplete the population so much as condition the fish to avoid anglers’ lures. “I think a lot of it is that the usual spots just get pounded and the fish get used to seeing the same lures,” said Sjoberg.

“Basically, the lake has matured into a real musky lake,” said Sjoberg. Back in the 1990s, when the fish were all hatchery raised and the fishing pressure was limited, it was “easy pickings,” according to Sjoberg.

Duane Williams, the large lake specialist at the DNR’s Tower Area fisheries office, agrees that the fish appear to have wised up a bit over the years. He said catch rates were higher back in the 1990s, in the years immediately following the introduction of stocked musky into the lake. Back then, however, fish were considerably smaller. In the years since, they’ve grown up and now the lake holds a number of musky that Williams said are probably near the absolute size limit for the species. Based on credible documentation, he said there have probably been several musky pulled from Vermilion that would have topped the current state record. But, he said, most musky anglers aren’t interested in killing really large musky, which is necessary to document the fish to the standards required for a state record.

The 57-1/2-inch goliath netted during the recent tournament was an inch and a half longer than the current state record of 56 inches, which dates back to 1957. Even so, the fish went right back in the water, leaving anglers only to wonder if its weight would have topped the 1957 record.

Matt Snyder, who took fifth in the latest tourney, is another Lake Vermilion fishing guide, said there’s no doubt there are record-breaking fish plying Vermilion’s waters. “We’ve definitely got them. It’s an amazing fishery,” he said.

He noted that the current regulation on the lake doesn’t allow anglers to keep any musky under 54 inches. But even fish large enough to take as a trophy almost always go right back in the water. He said the state record may never be officially broken unless a record-setter is hooked too badly to release.

While food supply likely provides a natural limit to the size of muskies, that actually bodes well for Vermilion, according to Sjoberg, since the baitfish are so abundant. “Vermilion is such a fantastic fishery, these muskies have all the food they could ever need. And it’s just incredible the size of some of these big fish. I’ve fished all the lakes in Minnesota and some in Wisconsin and have never seen so many big fish,” he said.