When it comes to fishing, Michigan is the envy of many other states. With its wide range of habitats -- vast expanses of Great Lakes, some 36,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 11,000 inland lakes -- Michigan has something to satisfy virtually every freshwater angling taste. A number of Michigan fisheries are world class.

Chief among them? It would be hard to argue against the muskellunge fishery on the Lake St. Clair system, the quarter-million-acre lake that serves as a connecting water between Lake Huron and Lake Erie (and includes the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers) that Michigan shares with Ontario, Canada.

As popular as it is today, the Lake St. Clair muskellunge fishery has a long and storied history. In the late 1800s, the abundant population of the large predators attracted anglers from near and far. A resort industry developed with steamships delivering anglers to resorts and hotels in the St. Clair delta.

"Today, the muskie population is completely self-sustaining and possibly as abundant as it was during the steamship era," said Mike Thomas, a fisheries research biologist at Lake St. Clair. "But there have been many changes during the last century: changes in the behavior of anglers targeting muskellunge, changes in the fishing regulations, and changes in the habitat for Lake St. Clair's muskies."

Through the 1970s, muskellunge anglers on Lake St. Clair primarily were harvest-oriented. Legal-size fish (at times as small as 30 inches) were routinely harvested. Photos of muskie club tournaments from the 1950s and '60s show dozens of muskies harvested from the lake. Winter spearing was legal in Michigan waters through the mid-1960s.

During the 1970s, however, many anglers began to practice voluntary catch and release of legal-size muskellunge. That ethic grew explosively in the 1980s, and has become the standard operating procedure for nearly all St. Clair muskie anglers today. Volunteer Angler Diary program data for Lake St. Clair muskellunge anglers in recent years show voluntary release of about 99% of all legal-size muskellunge caught during the last 10 years. And because of the Internet, muskie anglers can share information about proper handling techniques, construction of landing cradles, and even commercial sources for onboard fish-revival systems.

Michigan's fishing regulations changed greatly, too. In the late 1950s, there was no closed season, no daily creel limit, and a 30-inch minimum size limit. By 1970, a daily creel limit of one fish was in place and the season was closed Dec. 15 until the first Saturday in June, effectively ending the spear fishery. The minimum size limit was increased to 36 inches in 1976, 38 inches in 1981 and 40 inches in 1994. The current statewide 42-inch size limit has been in place since 1995.

Ontario's regulations have followed a similar trend of increasing protection for muskies. For the 2009 season, Ontario sport fishing regulations for muskie include a one-fish daily creel limit, an open season from the first Saturday in June through Dec. 15, and a 44-inch minimum length.

Lake St. Clair's habitat has changed significantly as well. Clean-water legislation reduced nutrient loads and heavy metals like mercury. Water clarity improved dramatically for this and other reasons. Aquatic plants increased in abundance and distribution. Today, aquatic plant beds -- prime muskie habitat -- are found throughout the lake, providing cover for muskellunge eggs, larvae and fingerlings. The weed beds provide ambush cover for juvenile and adult muskies alike.

"Because of all these changes, the muskie population is thriving," Thomas said. "Catch-rates have increased over the years. In 1956, guides fished an average of 30 hours to catch a muskie, according to our reports. In 2007, Angler Diary volunteers fished less than 12 hours to catch a muskie."

Bigger fish are more common, too. The Michigan-Ontario Muskie Club's catch records show that during the 1960s and early '70s, fewer than five muskies a year exceeding 30 pounds were entered in the tournaments. By the late 1980s and through the early 1990s, 10 or more 30-pounders were being recorded each year. And since 2000, 15 or more 30-pound fish have been recorded each year. Fish weighing 35 pounds or more, rare in the 1960s and '70s, were common through the 1980s and 1990s. In the last few years, fish weighing more than 40 pounds are being caught regularly.

Fishing techniques used by anglers targeting muskie at Lake St. Clair have been evolving as well. For many years, trolling accounted for nearly all of the fishing effort. And although many anglers continue to pursue Lake St. Clair muskellunge by trolling, more anglers are developing alternative methods. Casting has become much more popular, especially with smaller-boat anglers. A growing number of anglers are vertical jigging along the contour breaks and current edges in the rivers. Even a few fly fishing guides now provide Lake St. Clair muskie excursions.

Bottom line, muskie fishing in Lake St. Clair may be as good now as it ever has been.

Not everything is perfect, of course. Biologists have been concerned with the appearance of disease in the St. Clair muskie population. Mortalities occurred in spring of 2003 and 2006; surveys suggest that hundreds of muskies died each time. DNR investigations linked those events with the presence of bacterial (muskie pox) and viral (VHS) infections. Fortunately, Lake St. Clair's muskellunge population has been robust enough to withstand these natural mortality events. The fishery is vibrant.

But despite much progress in pollution control and environmental cleanup, chemical contamination remains an issue. As a top predator, muskellunge accumulate elevated levels of mercury and PCBs. As a result, the Michigan Department of Community Health recommends no consumption of muskellunge from the St. Clair system.

But you don't have to eat them to enjoy catching them. And right now, there are few places in the world where an angler has any better shot at catching a big muskellunge than the Lake St. Clair system.