Expand spearfishing in Michigan? Anglers want more varieties, fishing sites

Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission is expected to vote on whether to allow expanded spearfishing to continue
In 2021, the commission voted to temporarily increase which species spearfishers can take and where they can fish
Spearfishers would like to see those rules expanded further.

For over a decade, Michigan has allowed people to use spears — and bows and arrows — in most waterways to catch some of the state’s least-coveted fish, like gizzard shad, goldfish and grass carp.

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission temporarily expanded underwater spearfishing effective in 2022 to include lake trout, northern pike and walleye and also added more waterways where the sport is allowed. It’s now considering whether to continue those rules.

Spearfishers are asking the commission to go even further and allow them the same privileges as other anglers. Ideally, they want to be able to catch the same fish in the same waters.

More than a dozen people spoke in favor of expanded spearfishing at the commission’s meeting Thursday.

“It’s a common misconception that spear fishing is just as simple as diving down and taking the first fish you see,” said Megan Horodko, the secretary of the Michigan Spearfishing Association. “It’s a lot harder than that.”

Steve and William Busch in the lake. They each hold up a walleye. — Steve and William Busch with a pair of walleye in Lake Michigan in mid-August. (Courtesy of Michigan Spearfishing Association)

In Michigan, people can’t spearfish with oxygen tanks. Instead, divers have to hold their breath while they dive down, swim in a way that they don’t scare fish away, identify a fish that is an allowable species and the right size, and then hit it.

“Finding fish is often the hardest part. Hours can pass without even seeing your target,” Horodko said.

The commission is expected to vote on the spearfishing policy at its next meeting, on Oct. 9.

In 2021, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Commission temporarily revised rules to allow spearfishers to go after some species of game fish in select areas of southern Lake Michigan and southern Lake Huron on a trial basis. Those rules went into effect in 2022. They were scheduled to sunset this year on March 31, but the deadline was pushed back to March 31, 2026 so that the commission could evaluate expanding the rules.

At Thursday’s Natural Resources Commission meeting, the DNR recommended that the commission allow spearfishers to continue to fish but only for the already designated game fish in the currently specified areas.

The DNR said in a memo to the commission that it’s “open to further discussion about additional opportunities” for spearfishers but it stopped short of recommending a further expansion.

It noted that only 109 spearfishing licensees per year reported harvesting at least one fish and that members of a working group asked about the issue mentioned concerns about “fair chase,” the idea that spearfishing doesn’t give fish a fair chance to escape.

‘Patience and skill’

At Thursday’s commission meeting, public commenter after public commenter tried to dispute this latter point by talking about the difficulties of spearfishing and the low number of fish they’d caught.

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Riley Smith, vice president of the Michigan Spearfishing Association, argued that hook-and-line anglers have more of an unfair advantage than spearfishers because unskilled anglers can use sonar, live scopes and multiple reels to catch fish while drinking a beer and eating a sandwich.

“Spearfishing takes intense individual effort, patience and skill,” he said. “Underwater spearfishing is the definition of fair chase. It’s about the individual, not technology.”

Rusty Laurenz and Jon Durtka hold up the fish they caught. — Rusty Laurenz and Jon Durtka with walleye they harvested spearfishing in Lake Huron above the Blue Water Bridge. (Courtesy of Michigan Spearfishing Association)

Some spearfishers argued it’s a more sustainable way to fish because they can see the species and size before they go for a fish, whereas a hook-and-line angler doesn’t know until they pull a fish up, and if it’s the wrong size or species, the fish don’t always survive the release.

Spearfishers also argued the sport results in less trash. It’s common for a hook, lure or line to get snagged and get left behind in the water. Spearfishers say they don’t have this issue, and they also often clean up debris they find underwater.

One spearfisher who commented, Travis Schaeffer, said he even went so far as to start a group called Michigan Trash Divers. “On every outing, we do everything we can to collect any waste we see,” Schaeffer said.

Dan Kimmel of the Bass Federation of Michigan said the bass groups he represented were in favor of spearfishers being able to go after more fish, but said his groups were worried about them being able to go after bass in a way that could impact sport fishing.

Commissioners indicated, without going into any details, that they would be working on an amendment to the spearfishing order. Commissioner John Walters told Bridge he could not provide specifics since the amendment wouldn’t be finished until next week.

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