Michigan's Newest Outdoor Sport Seems Insane

Michigan just made the biggest expansion of Great Lakes spearfishing access in state history, and if you haven't been paying attention to this corner of the outdoor world, that's understandable. It's been a slow burn and, up to this point, somewhat obscure.

Since 2021, a small group of freedivers has been hunting walleye, pike, and lake trout in limited trial zones on Lakes Huron and Michigan. The DNR watched, the Natural Resources Commission collected data, and last November, the NRC voted unanimously to go permanent and go bigger. Lakes Erie and Superior are now open. Zones that were experimental are now law.

April 2026 is when it starts for real.

The trial worked because the harvest numbers were almost comically small. During the experimental period, spearfishers in the open zones took roughly 430 walleyes a year total. Hook-and-line anglers hauled hundreds of thousands of walleye from Lake Huron in 2023 alone. Michigan Spearfishing Association president Jon Durtka called it a "drop in the hat", and it's hard to argue. (Outdoor Life, "Spearfishing for Walleyes Is Coming to the Great Lakes," Dec. 2025; harvest figures confirmed in DNR Fisheries Order 219.26, Nov. 2025)

The conservation case here is legitimate. When you're underwater looking directly at a walleye, you are able to decide whether to take it. You are able to get a good sense of the size, the sex, and the situation. There's no bycatch because there's no hook in the water. A fish you don't shoot swims away uninjured. That selectivity is genuinely difficult to replicate from a boat or a pier.

The DNR's preference was to keep the existing rules in place without expanding. Their concern was less about the fish and more about whether the broader angling public was on board. The NRC voted to expand anyway, unanimously.

How does fishing the Big Lakes in April look? Cold. This is 40-degree water in spring with low visibility and a breath-hold clock that ticks faster while your body is fighting to stay warm. Wetsuits, gloves, and hoods aren't optional.

But we Michiganders have always had a soft spot for the kind of cold activities that would make someone from the south shudder.

We are the people who ice fish in January, who wade steelhead rivers in March before the sun's up, who push through swamps in November nobody else is hunting. I think cold water Great Lakes spearfishing fits perfectly in that tradition.

A few things that matter:

This is freediving only. No Scuba. You hold your breath, go down, and hunt. That's the whole deal, and it's a big part of why the conservation impact stays minimal. There simply aren't that many people willing to do it.

You need a spearfishing license separate from your standard Michigan fishing license. It's free, but you have to request it specifically from the DNR.

Daylight hours only, and you can't operate near designated swimming areas.

Zone boundaries vary by lake and matter. Read the actual regulations before you get in the water. The specifics on Lake Superior differ from Lake Erie, and getting it wrong on something this new isn't going to go well for you.

Pro tip: Local dive shops in the U.P. and northern Lower Michigan are already fielding questions and can point you toward gear that fits the water you're targeting.

The trial proved it could work. Now it's permanent. So pull on the wetsuit, hold your breath, and add one more thing to the list of cold-water activities that make the rest of the country think we're crazy.