The rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) is among the best-studied freshwater invasive species in North America, as invasions of this crayfish into lakes of the Midwest United States with long-term monitoring programs allowed clear quantification of its impacts for decades by researchers including David Lodge, John Magnuson, Roy Stein, and Jake Vander Zanden. However, the past decade of rusty crayfish monitoring and research finds impacts of this invader are attenuating over time due to a combination of declines in both populations and body size. Here I review and update the latest on rusty crayfish invasions in northern Wisconsin, documenting the extent and magnitude of population and body size declines for this invasive crayfish, as well as patterns of community and ecosystem recovery to pre-invasion states within study lakes. Causes of rusty crayfish declines remain poorly known, and I outline a research agenda to use this uncommonly well-documented case study to investigate mechanisms of invasive species population decline and phenotypic change. Finally, if rusty crayfish are a transient invader in these ecosystems, then opportunities for subsequent serial or over-invasion by other crayfish species may be likely. What lessons have we learned from the rusty crayfish to guide risk analysis, surveillance, and rapid response or management of future crayfish invasions in north temperate lakes?