Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
Our own model
Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.
Safety gates
It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.
A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.
Where to get in, where to hunt
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
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Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.
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See all spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.
Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.
Open the seafloor mapBuoyed wreck in about 5 m off the tip of Presque Isle - the shallowest charted wreck on the Pennsylvania shore. Short run from the Erie channel; sand bottom with hull timbers, and warm enough by August for a long snorkel.
Google MapsCharted wreck west of Presque Isle in about 22 m. A proper open-lake boat dive with cold water below the thermocline - and the depth band where Pennsylvania's burbot-by-scuba rule starts to matter.
Google MapsCharted wreck of the 1893 steamer in about 28 m, the best-known deep site off the Pennsylvania shore. Long boat run, cold water, and no buoy; strictly for teams with their own shot line and deco discipline.
Google MapsCharted wreck at about 28 m offshore of Erie, deep enough to sit under the thermocline all season. Advanced boat dive; this is the depth band where the PA burbot season (1 Jun-30 Sep, scuba, 60 ft plus) actually applies.
Google MapsCharted wreck in about 8 m inside Presque Isle Bay's outer approach. Shallow, sheltered by the peninsula and usually the calmest of the Erie sites; bay water, so expect single-digit visibility after rain.
Google MapsCharted wreck in about 17 m north-east of Erie, on the run toward North East. Open water, no shelter, and no mooring - drop your own line. Cold, dark and quiet; visibility is best in late summer.
Google MapsSOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Erie is the one genuine spearfishing destination in the eastern Great Lakes, and the rule is precise. 58 Pa. Code § 63.5 closes the list of lawful methods; § 63.8(b) then opens one door — on Lake Erie, scuba divers holding a valid fishing licence and Lake Erie stamp may take burbot at a depth of at least 60 feet — and the § 69.12(f) table sets the season at 1 June to 30 September, five a day, no minimum size. Spearguns are barred statewide: § 63.8(c) requires a non-mechanical spear or gig, maximum five barbed points. Tributaries are closed outright.
Sixty feet is about 18 m, which is why the depth column matters here more than anywhere else on the lakes: the Canobie and the Philip D. Armour sit above the band, the S. K. Martin at 17 m sits right at its edge, and the Charles Foster, the Indiana at about 28 m and the Dean Richmond sit inside it. All are charted wrecks rather than documented dive-site descriptions, and none of the deep ones carries a mooring — bring your own shot line.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canobie | Wreck | 4.8 m | Snorkel to single tank · burbot season starts deeper | Boat | Buoyed wreck in about 5 m off the tip of Presque Isle — the shallowest charted wreck on the Pennsylvania shore. Short run from the Erie channel; sand bottom with hull timbers, warm enough by August for a long snorkel. |
SpainUS spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
| Philip D. Armour | Wreck | 8 m | Snorkel to single tank · burbot season starts deeper | Boat | Charted wreck in about 8 m inside Presque Isle Bay's outer approach. Shallow, sheltered by the peninsula and usually the calmest of the Erie sites; bay water, so expect single-digit visibility after rain. |
| S. K. Martin | Wreck | 17 m | Advanced boat dive · inside the 60 ft burbot band | Boat | Charted wreck in about 17 m north-east of Erie, on the run toward North East. Open water, no shelter and no mooring — drop your own line. Cold, dark and quiet; visibility is best in late summer. |
| Charles Foster | Wreck | 22.3 m | Advanced boat dive · inside the 60 ft burbot band | Boat | Charted wreck west of Presque Isle in about 22 m. A proper open-lake boat dive with cold water below the thermocline — and the depth band where Pennsylvania's burbot-by-scuba rule starts to matter. |
| Dean Richmond | Wreck | 28.4 m | Advanced boat dive · inside the 60 ft burbot band | Boat | Charted wreck of the 1893 steamer in about 28 m, the best-known deep site off the Pennsylvania shore. Long boat run, cold water and no buoy; strictly for teams with their own shot line and deco discipline. |
Yes, and it is the only real underwater fishery in the eastern Great Lakes — but read the shape of it carefully. Pennsylvania builds the answer in three moves. First, § 63.5 makes it unlawful to use any method for taking fish from Commonwealth waters, including boundary lakes and rivers, unless that method is specifically authorised. Second, § 63.8(a) authorises four species by spear: snakehead, carp, suckers and catfish may be taken with long bows and arrow including compound bows, crossbows, spears or gigs, at any hour of the day or night, aided by a light at night if so desired, in Commonwealth waters and waters bounding and adjacent thereto. Third, § 63.8(b) opens the one underwater fishery: on Lake Erie, scuba divers who possess a valid fishing licence and Lake Erie stamp shall be permitted to take burbot at a depth of at least 60 feet.
The Lake Erie table at § 69.12(f) prints the burbot entry in full: taken by scuba divers by use of non-mechanical spears or gigs at a depth of at least 60 feet, 1 June to 30 September, no minimum size, five a day. Note the inversion — every coastal state we have surveyed bans scuba spearfishing; Pennsylvania requires it. And then the gear rule closes the other half: § 63.8(c) says spears or gigs may not be mechanically propelled, may not have more than five barbed points, and may not be used in stocked trout waters. Band guns, pneumatic guns and roller guns are all unlawful in Pennsylvania. A PA burbot diver is on a tank, at sixty feet, with a pole spear. Sturgeon is off limits: § 69.12(f) prints "no open season — endangered species", and mussels and clams are closed year-round.
This is the most likely offence on the whole eastern shore, because the steelhead creeks look like obvious spear water. § 69.12a(b) is flat: archery fishing or spear fishing is prohibited in or along Lake Erie tributary streams. That covers Walnut, Elk, Twenty Mile, Sixteen Mile, Conneaut, Trout Run and Godfrey Run. Four of them go further as Nursery Waters under § 69.12a(a) and (d) — Trout Run and its tributaries, Godfrey Run, Orchard Beach Run and Crooked Creek where posted — where it is unlawful to fish, wade or possess fishing equipment while in or along them. Carrying the gear on the bank is itself the offence. Keep the gun and the spear on the lake side of the mouth, and treat every posted creek as a hard boundary.
Presque Isle is a sand spit closing Presque Isle Bay, and DCNR lists scuba diving among the state park's activities. The shallow pair sit in and around the bay approach: the Canobie, a buoyed wreck in about 5 m off the tip of the peninsula and the shallowest charted wreck on the Pennsylvania shore, and the Philip D. Armour in about 8 m in the outer approach, sheltered and usually the calmest site here, though bay water gives single-digit visibility after rain. Out in the open lake the S. K. Martin lies in about 17 m to the north-east, the Charles Foster in about 22 m west of the peninsula, the Indiana at about 28 m and the Dean Richmond, the 1893 steamer, at about 28 m — the best-known deep site on this shore. None of the deep wrecks has a mooring, so plan your own shot line and deco discipline, and expect cold water below the thermocline all season.
You need two documents for the burbot fishery: a Pennsylvania fishing licence and the Lake Erie Permit that § 63.8(b) names. Fees verified 2026-09-04: resident annual $27.97, non-resident annual $60.97, 3-day tourist $31.97, 7-day tourist $39.47, Lake Erie Permit $9.97, and a combination Trout plus Lake Erie at $20.97. Those prices include a $1.00 agent fee and a $0.97 transaction fee. Season and water: ice cover on Lake Erie often reaches 90-100 % in February, the diving season runs May to October, and the surface reaches 22-24 °C in August — but the burbot band is below the thermocline and cold regardless. There is no tide; the Great Lakes astronomical range is a few centimetres and NOAA publishes no predictions for these stations. The CO-OPS gauge 9063038 sits in Erie harbour, about 1 km from the forecast point.
Yes. Scuba divers with a fishing licence and a Lake Erie Permit may take burbot at a depth of at least 60 feet from 1 June to 30 September, five a day, under 58 Pa. Code §§ 63.8(b) and 69.12(f).
No. § 63.8(c) says spears and gigs may not be mechanically propelled, so band, pneumatic and roller guns are all unlawful statewide. Use a pole spear or hand gig with no more than five barbed points.
Snakehead, carp, suckers and catfish, under § 63.8(a), in Commonwealth waters at any hour of the day or night, with a light at night if you want one.
About 18 m. The S. K. Martin at 17 m sits at the edge; the Charles Foster at about 22 m, the Indiana at about 28 m and the Dean Richmond at about 28 m are inside it.
No. § 69.12a(b) prohibits spear fishing in or along all Lake Erie tributary streams, and on the four Nursery Waters even possessing fishing equipment along them is an offence.
Verified 2026-09-04: resident annual $27.97, non-resident annual $60.97, 3-day tourist $31.97, 7-day tourist $39.47, Lake Erie Permit $9.97, Trout plus Lake Erie combination $20.97.
No. § 69.12(f) prints no open season for sturgeon — endangered species. Mussels and clams are closed year-round as well.
The Canobie, a buoyed wreck in about 5 m off the tip of Presque Isle, and the Philip D. Armour in about 8 m in the bay's outer approach.
Portugal
