Milwaukee spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

• no targets this month

• •Michigan is the only jurisdiction in the region with a purpose-built underwater-spearfishing regime: a FREE annual underwater spearfishing licence, mandatory and separate from the fishing licence, resident and non-resident alike. From the 2026 season the monthly online effort-and-harvest report is ABOLISHED — the DNR dropped the reporting and kept the licence. Fishing licence: resident $26/yr, non-resident $76/yr, $10 daily.
• •Michigan, gear and conduct: breath-hold ONLY — scuba and rebreathers are prohibited while underwater spearfishing; daylight only (banned from 30 min after sunset to 30 min before sunrise); a speargun may be fired only while submerged and must be tethered to a line no longer than 20 ft (6 m); bands off the spear and the safety on when moving between areas and entering or leaving the water; never within 150 ft (46 m) of a designated swimming area, boat dock, boat access site or power intake. New for 2026: the use of bait, attractants or decoys while underwater spearfishing is prohibited, and the diver must be fully submerged when taking a fish.
• •Wisconsin is the only state here that names SCUBA as lawful for underwater spearfishing («by skin and scuba diving») — but on the outlying waters (the Great Lakes) no GAME FISH may be speared: panfish, white/yellow/rock bass, bullheads and rough fish only, sunrise to sunset. Licence: resident $20/yr, non-resident $55/yr.
• •New York and Minnesota: there is NO Great Lakes spearfishing. New York — ECL 11-1301(1)(a)/(c): spear and speargun are lawful only in the marine and coastal district. Minnesota — the underwater harpoon gun is authorised for INLAND waters only, for common carp and native rough fish, sunrise to sunset (Minn. Stat. 97C.371, Minn. R. 6262.0600); Lake Superior is closed.
• •Pennsylvania: 58 Pa. Code 63.5 makes every method unlawful unless specifically authorised; 63.8 authorises spears and gigs for snakehead, carp, suckers and catfish, and 63.8(c) forbids a mechanically propelled spear — so a speargun is unlawful everywhere in PA. Ohio: its «forage fish» class (thirteen rough species) may be taken by any method except a short list that does not include spears, so spearing them is lawful — but Ohio publishes no rule permitting a spear on any game fish. Indiana and Illinois: their spear paragraphs do NOT name Lake Michigan — status unconfirmed.
• •Fresh water is not the sea: there is no tide here (the level moves with wind setup and seiche, and NOAA CO-OPS publishes no tide predictions for Great Lakes stations at all), and in winter the ice and 1–4 °C water are the season's real hazard. This page reads the water temperature from NOAA GLERL (GLSEA ACSPO) rather than from the marine model, which answers nothing on these lakes.

• ⛔ 🚫 NEW YORK AND MINNESOTA: there is no spearfishing on these lakes at all. New York — ECL 11-1301: no fish may be taken except by angling, and the spear and speargun are permitted ONLY in the marine and coastal district, which does not touch the Great Lakes; in the state's freshwater regulations the spear appears only for FROGS. Minnesota — Lake Superior is a closed-list water: «fish may not be taken in Lake Superior except as provided by this part», and that part authorises no spearing method.
• ⛔ 🚫 Lake sturgeon is protected in all eight Great Lakes states — endangered or threatened, no open season, possession prohibited. These species may not be taken by spear anywhere on the lakes.
• ⛔ 🚫 Ohio's state endangered list is part of the shot: the cisco (lake herring) and the longnose sucker may not be possessed in any Ohio water, and alligator gar, shortnose gar and spotted gar are endangered even though «gar» sits in the forage-fish class — identify the fish before you shoot. Shovelnose sturgeon and goldeye are on the same list.
• ⛔ 🚫 New York protects statewide: lake sturgeon, Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon, American eel (Lake Ontario / St. Lawrence), paddlefish, sauger, silver chub, gilt darter, mooneye, round whitefish and the longnose sucker — fishing for a listed species, catch and release included, is illegal. The spear is banned in New York fresh water anyway; this list is what binds a diver who crosses the state line.
• ⛔ 🚫 Wisconsin: any sucker or redhorse listed as threatened or endangered falls OUTSIDE the rough-fish definition and may not be possessed without a DNR permit — the rough-fish permission is not a blanket one. Minnesota: black buffalo, paddlefish and skipjack herring are listed, so «buffalo» as a spear target must exclude the black buffalo.
• ⛔ 🚫 Molluscs are not a target here: Indiana has banned native mussels — live animals and empty shells alike — since 1991, and Pennsylvania closes mussels and clams year-round.
• ⛔ 🚫 Great Lakes wrecks are look-don't-touch. The Michigan Underwater Preserves and the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary protect sunken vessels as monuments: removing anything from them is unlawful. In NATIONAL PARKS (Isle Royale) the state agency states it plainly — «Fishing in any manner other than hook-and-line is prohibited in National Parks» — so spearfishing there is out. For the national LAKESHORES (Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks) the superintendent's compendium was NOT read in this pass: treat their status as unverified.
• ⛔ ⚠️ Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois all publish ALLOW-lists: anything not on the list may not be taken. None of the four authorises a spear on any game fish — walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, steelhead, lake trout, northern pike, muskellunge. And the status of Lake Michigan ITSELF in Illinois and Indiana was NOT confirmed in this pass: until the text is read, treat it as closed rather than open.

US 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.

• Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs. Lake waves are short-period (NWS: roughly 3–4 s on average in summer) and steep, and they grow with wind strength, fetch and how long the wind has blown — a lull promises nothing here; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
• Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a breakwall or a boulder revetment a modest rise in wave height can make the exit impossible — plan for not being able to climb out, and leave while the exit is still easy.
• Structural current: near piers, breakwalls and river mouths currents can form and strengthen when waves and surf pick up (NWS describes structural and rip currents at exactly these features) — stay well clear of piers and breakwalls, especially the side the waves are hitting, and of river mouths and channel outlets: that is where the current runs strongest (NWS). If one catches you anyway, never swim against it.
• Cold: wetsuit per the lake-temperature chip (GLERL surface — below the thermocline it is colder still); cold water shortens the safe time in the water — plan short sessions, wear a thicker suit than you think you need, and get out at the first steady shiver. Where the limit sits depends on your exposure protection, your workload and you (NOAA).
• Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
• Afternoon wind: on the Great Lakes, on sunny days with a light gradient wind, a lake breeze often sets in around midday and the chop can build quickly — plan to be out of the water by midday; when the chop builds, get out.
• UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
• Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.