Local guide · Port HuronSpearfishing in Port Huron: spots, seasons and rules
Updated 2026-09-04 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher
The drift dive under the Blue Water Bridge is the best-known current dive of the Great Lakes: the St. Clair River carries the whole of Lake Huron into a narrow throat. Fort Gratiot Light on the bank is also the southern edge of Michigan's Lake Huron game-fish spear zone, and the Fort Gratiot water-level station sits right here. Legally Port Huron is the boundary: game fish by underwater spear north of Fort Gratiot Light on the lake, year-round list only in the St. Clair River below it. Freedive only, daylight only, and a free underwater spearfishing licence on top of the fishing licence, with no monthly reporting since the 2026 season.
TL;DR
- The drift dive under the Blue Water Bridge is the best-known current dive of the Great Lakes: the St.
- Fort Gratiot Light is the southern edge of that zone: game fish north of it on the lake, year-round list only in the river below it, and no muskellunge by spear.
- Two licences: the All Species fishing licence plus a free but mandatory underwater spearfishing licence with no monthly reporting since the 2026 season. Freedive only, daylight only, spear fired submerged on a line of 20 ft or less.
- Marks worth the trip: Sweetheart, Charles S. Price, Monarch, with depths from a snorkel to 14–20 m. Lake St.
Where are the dive and hunting spots near Port Huron?
Depths below are the published site depths, not a promise about conditions. Outside the buoyed preserve sites you find the mark yourself.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|
| Sweetheart | Wreck | 6 m | Beginner | Boat, just north of the river mouth | Small schooner lost in 1881 and lying on sand just north of the river mouth. Shallow, the closest wreck to town, and best on a flat morning. |
| Charles S. Price | Wreck | 14–20 m | Intermediate | Boat from Port Huron or Lexington, buoyed | The famous mystery ship of the 1913 Great Storm, found floating upside down and still lying inverted. A large steel hull with easy navigation along the keel line. |
| Monarch | River wreck, drift | 3–10 m | Advanced, live-boat only | Live-boat drift under the Blue Water Bridge | A charted river wreck under the Blue Water Bridge, where all of Lake Huron squeezes into the St. Clair. Strong, steady current makes this a live-boat drift only; visibility is often over 10 m but shipping traffic is constant. |
| Saint Clair Middle Ground | Mid-river bar | 1–6 m | Advanced, experienced divers only | Drift below Marysville, fast water both sides | Named mid-river bar in the St. Clair below Marysville: hard bottom and boulders splitting the channel, with fast water on both flanks. Freighter traffic runs on either side of the bar. |
Is spearfishing allowed in Port Huron?
Yes, but Port Huron is the boundary itself. Fort Gratiot Light is the southern edge of Michigan's Lake Huron game-fish zone: north of it, on the lake, lake trout, northern pike and walleye may be taken with an underwater spear. The St. Clair River below the light is a connecting water and is not part of that 2026 water, so there only the year-round list applies, and muskellunge may not be taken by any means other than hook and line. The instrument is the Bow & Spear Fishing Regulations table of the Michigan Fishing Guide, a Fisheries Order under NREPA Part 487.
Which fish can you spear at Port Huron?
The year-round Michigan list is the backbone: bowfin, bullheads, burbot, common carp, catfish, cisco, freshwater drum, gizzard shad, goldfish, grass carp, longnose gar, rainbow smelt, suckers and lake whitefish. On these lakes whitefish, cisco and burbot are real targets on it, not a consolation prize. Inside the zone add lake trout, northern pike and walleye: pike 24 in minimum and a possession season of 1 July to 15 March by underwater spear, walleye 15 in and five a day. Lake trout limits are zone-specific — read the DNR table before you go. Lake sturgeon is off the table: spearing it is prohibited except in a special Black Lake winter season, and on every water here it is closed or release-only. Michigan's table is an enumerating one: trout and salmon other than lake trout, bass, sunfishes and crappie are not named, so they are not open.
What licence and gear does Michigan require?
Two licences, not one. You need the Michigan All Species fishing licence — 26 USD resident, 76 USD non-resident, 10 USD a day, from age 17 — plus a free annual underwater spearfishing licence, which is mandatory — though its monthly effort-and-harvest report was abolished for the 2026 season. The gear rules are just as concrete. A rubber- or spring-propelled spear may be fired only while you are fully submerged, and it must be tethered to a line no longer than 20 ft. Scuba and rebreathers are prohibited while underwater spearfishing, so this is a freedive discipline. Daylight only, bands unloaded whenever you move between areas, and 150 ft off swimming areas, docks, boat access sites and power intakes — which effectively closes harbour mouths.
When is the season and what is the water like at Port Huron?
Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair and Detroit rivers freeze from December to March, and frazil ice in the current is genuinely dangerous. The workable season is May to November. Plan for a thick suit with hood, gloves and boots, or a drysuit: the thermocline shapes every dive here, and what feels workable at the surface is a different lake ten metres down. There is no tide on the Great Lakes — the level moves with wind and pressure.
What are the safety risks at Port Huron?
Cold is the first risk and it is not seasonal: below the thermocline the water stays a few degrees above freezing all summer, and the freedive-only rule leaves you no gas reserve to buy time with. The second is current. These are connecting waters carrying the outflow of a whole lake through a narrow section, so the river sites are live-boat drifts, not anchored dives, and commercial traffic runs through the same water: keep a diver-down flag up where it does not block navigation, and stay out of the shipping channel. Finally, ice: the water freezes for months, and frazil and shore ice make the shoulder seasons a different sport.
FAQ
Can you spear walleye or pike at Port Huron?
Yes. Under the 2026 regulations this water is inside Michigan's Lake Huron underwater-spear water, from the Thunder Bay River pier at Alpena south to Fort Gratiot Light, so lake trout, northern pike and walleye are open here. The year-round list stays open on top of them, and the St. Clair River below the light is not part of that water.
Can you use scuba for spearfishing in Michigan?
No. Scuba, rebreathers and similar devices are prohibited while underwater spearfishing: Michigan is freedive-only.
What licence do you need?
The Michigan All Species fishing licence plus a free annual underwater spearfishing licence, whose mandatory monthly effort-and-harvest report was abolished for the 2026 season.
Can you spear at night?
No. It is prohibited from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise, and you must stay 150 ft off swimming areas, docks, ramps and power intakes.
Is the current diveable here?
Only as a live-boat drift, and only for experienced divers. The river carries the outflow of a whole lake through a narrow section and commercial traffic uses the same channel.
When is the best time to dive Port Huron?
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