Is spearfishing allowed at Put-in-Bay?

For forage fish, yes — drum, carp, the Asian carps, quillback, suckers, bowfin, gar, buffalo, gizzard shad and goldfish, since spears are not on Ohio's list of prohibited means. Game fish are treated as closed.

Can I spear a smallmouth bass or walleye here?

No. Ohio publishes no rule allowing game fish by spear and the code section that would settle it could not be read. Treat them as closed and confirm with ODNR.

Why is the water clearer at the islands?

Limestone bottom instead of soft mud, plus zebra and quagga mussel filtration. Starve Island Reef and Sugar Reef are named as among the clearer spots.

How deep are the Bass Islands reefs?

Shallow: Gibraltar Bar under 2 m, Buckeye Reef 1-3 m, West Reef 2-3 m, Sugar Reef about 4 m, Scott Point Shoal about 4 m, Starve Island Reef 3-6 m, Ballast Reef 2-6 m.

Is there current between the islands?

Yes. Ballast, Sugar and especially Scott Point Shoal in South Passage all carry current, and ferry traffic runs directly overhead at Scott Point.

How warm does it get?

Up to 22-24 °C in August. Ice cover on the lake often reaches 90-100 % in February and the season runs May to October.

Is there a shore dive at Put-in-Bay?

Gibraltar Bar, an easy swim from the public dock in under 2 m of water. Boat traffic in the harbour is heavy all summer, so fly a flag.

How close is the Canadian border?

Close at West Reef off North Bass Island — stay south of the international line.

Put-in-Bay spearfishing forecast — United States

Put-in-Bay · United States

5.2

wave 0.1 m head-on

visibility2m

Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: NWS · GLERL · Open-Meteo — high confidence · data 10:26

Sources & confidence

Sources: NWS · GLERL · Open-Meteo
Method: spearo sea-state engine: consensus of up to 6 models + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

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.

How we score the water

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.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tides — none here: The Great Lakes are fresh water: there is no tide, so this factor never moves the verdict. The level is pushed around by wind setup and seiche instead.
Water temperature: Lake surface temperature from NOAA GLERL's GLSEA daily composite, not an ocean model — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

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

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

NWS no dataupdated 10:26

Put-in-Bay — solo, off the rocks

BORDERLINE

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site · no data: current

wave 0.1 m head-onwind 5 km/hvisibility ~2 mwindow 06:00–21:00

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 2 m · Water 16.3°C

confidence medium · verdict for the selected day

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Sunday · today2026-10-25

07:55–18:35 · full moon

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide— no data

Wave0.04 m

Wind7 km/h

Water16 °C

fish activity: moonset 07:19 · moderate · moon underfoot 12:40 · high · moonrise 18:00 · moderate · moon overhead 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

caution — solo off the rocks is risky, check on site fish

Hs 0.12 m · calmperiod 2.2 s head-onwind 5→10surge 0viz 2 m

0.12 mcalm · up to ~0.24 · 76° head-on

2.2 sswell moderate

5→10gusts 10 km/h

0weak surge

—m/s

2 mrecent swell

16.3°C5 mm + hood

—

Atmosphere15 kmlandmarks visible

moderatemoonset

no data: current
dawn/dusk

confidence mediumtwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

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Where to get in
off the rocks.

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 map

Ballast ReefPut-in-Bay

no data

Ultra · subscribers

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Buckeye ReefPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Shallow limestone shelf off Buckeye Point on Middle Bass, 1-3 m. Snorkelling depth on a calm day, with weed edges on the rock. Very exposed - any north wind stirs the western basin to zero visibility within hours.

Google Maps

Burgundy BeachPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data

Lakeside access at Burgundy Beach, roughly 3.8 km from Put-in-Bay. From here you swim out into Lake Erie. Coordinates of the entry: 41.688 N, 82.820 W. Fresh water floats you less, so trim your weights. Check the state's current spearing rules before you dive.

Google Maps

Deleware Avenue BeachPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Deleware Avenue Beach: lake shore, 0.5 km from Put-in-Bay. Access type in the OpenStreetMap data: beach. From here you swim out into Lake Erie. The pin sits at 41.652 N / 82.813 W on the chart. State fishing rules set species and seasons for spearing; check them first.

Google Maps

Gibraltar BarPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Shallow limestone bar between Gibraltar Island and the South Bass shore, right in Put-in-Bay harbour. Under 2 m, hard bottom, easy swim from the public dock; smallmouth and drum work the rock. Boat traffic is heavy all summer.

Google Maps

Lime Kiln BeachPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Lime Kiln Beach: lake shore, 3.1 km from Put-in-Bay. Mapped by OpenStreetMap as a beach. Water body: Lake Erie. Fresh water floats you less, so trim your weights. State fishing rules set species and seasons for spearing; check them first.

Google Maps

Manila Bay BeachPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Manila Bay Beach: lake shore, 6.6 km from Put-in-Bay. OpenStreetMap lists the site as a beach. From here you swim out into Lake Erie. Depth at this access has not been measured. Which fish may be speared, and when, is set by the state; read the rules.

Google Maps

Scott Point ShoalPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Shoal off Scott Point on the Catawba side of South Passage, about 4 m over rock and gravel. Sits in the channel between the mainland and the islands, so there is real current and heavy ferry traffic overhead.

Google Maps

Starve Island ReefPut-in-Bay

no data

Pro · subscribers

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Sugar ReefPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Reef north of Sugar Island in the middle of the Bass Islands group, about 4 m over limestone. Short run from Put-in-Bay, moderate current between the islands, and one of the more consistently clear spots of the archipelago.

Google Maps

West ReefPut-in-Bay

no data

window: —
Seabed depth of the selected area: no data (coarse grid)

Limestone reef west of North Bass Island in 2-3 m. Hard flat rock with rubble edges; the shallowest of the northern reefs and the first to be blown out by weather. Boat only, and the international line is close - stay south of it.

Google Maps

SOLO 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.

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

no targets this month

Regulated — check your state

Common carp📋 season by state
The one species spearable almost everywhere a spear is legal at all: Michigan and Wisconsin year-round, Ohio as forage fish, Pennsylvania under 58 Pa. Code 63.8 with a non-mechanical spear. New York gives you a bow instead, carp only, 15 May – 30 September. Illinois and Indiana list it but neither names Lake Michigan as a spear water.
White sucker📋 season by state
Rough fish in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania, so it is lawful quarry wherever those states let a spear in the water. Identify the fish first: Ohio and New York protect the longnose sucker, and Wisconsin excludes any listed threatened or endangered sucker from its rough-fish class.
Freshwater drum (sheepshead)📋 season by state
Ohio's forage-fish class names the sheepshead by name, so it is a real Lake Erie spear target. Michigan and Wisconsin carry it year-round; Pennsylvania's 58 Pa. Code 63.8 list does not include it, so it may not be speared there.
Bowfin📋 season by state
Rough fish in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, with no bag limit at all in Minnesota's inland waters. Illinois and Indiana both list it, but neither names Lake Michigan among its spear waters.
Longnose gar📋 season by state
Rough fish across the western lakes; Minnesota caps the take at 10 in its inland waters. In Ohio the alligator, shortnose and spotted gar are state endangered even though 'gar' is a forage fish — identify the gar before you shoot.

Not a target — don't shoot

Lake trout🚫 no-take
Underwater spear only in the Michigan waters the 2026 regulations name: Lake Michigan from the MI/IN border north to the 45th parallel, a 2-mile strip in Green Bay to the Ford River mouth, a 5-mile strip from Point Detour to the Brevort River, Lake Huron from the Thunder Bay River pier to Fort Gratiot Light, Lake Erie to the Celeron Island line and Lake Superior to the St. Marys River. Grand Traverse Bay, Stannard Rock, Big Reef and a 4.5-mile ring round Isle Royale are excluded. 15 in minimum; season and limit run by management unit. Nowhere else in the eight states.
Lake whitefish🚫 no-take
On Michigan's year-round spear list in all state waters except designated trout lakes and streams and the Michigan/Wisconsin boundary waters. Wisconsin treats it as a game fish and bans the spear on it in the outlying (Great Lakes) waters.
Cisco (lake herring)🚫 no-take
On Michigan's year-round spear list and a genuine Great Lakes target there. In Ohio the cisco (lake herring) is a state endangered species — possession is prohibited in every Ohio water.
Walleye🚫 no-take
Underwater spear only in the named 2026 Michigan waters (Lake Michigan to the 45th parallel, the Green Bay and north-shore strips, Huron, Erie, Superior; Grand Traverse Bay, Stannard Rock, Big Reef and the 4.5-mile ring round Isle Royale excluded): 15 in minimum, 5 a day. Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River and the Detroit River are not in the row at all. Every other state on the lakes bans the spear on walleye outright.
Northern pike🚫 no-take
Michigan: underwater spear in the named 2026 waters (Lake Michigan to the 45th parallel, Huron from the Thunder Bay River pier to Fort Gratiot Light, Erie, Superior; Grand Traverse Bay, Stannard Rock, Big Reef and the 4.5-mile ring round Isle Royale excluded), possession season 1 July – 15 March, 24 in minimum, 2 a day; plus a separate hand-spear ice season 1 December – 15 March. Wisconsin allows pike by spear only through the ice on Lake Superior — never underwater.
Muskellunge (musky)

Law

•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.

Safety protocol

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.

Spearfishing in Put-in-Bay: spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-09-04 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Put-in-Bay sits in the clearest water on Lake Erie, because the Bass Islands limestone and the mussel filtration together give visibility the rest of the lake does not have. Ohio's spearfishing answer is a class definition: forage fish — freshwater drum, common carp, the Asian carps, quillback, suckers, bowfin, gar, buffalo, gizzard shad, goldfish — may be taken by any method except a list that omits spears. Game fish are treated as closed pending the unread Ohio Administrative Code. The reefs between South Bass, Middle Bass and Kelleys are shallow, hard-bottomed and busy with boats.

TL;DR

The Erie islands are the one part of the lake that is regularly clear — a zebra-mussel effect — and the only island resort with boat logistics ready to go.

Ohio allows forage fish by any method, and spears are not on its list of prohibited means. Freshwater drum and carp over the limestone reefs are the realistic targets.

Game fish are treated as closed: Ohio publishes no rule allowing them by spear, and OAC 1501:31-13, which would settle it, could not be opened. Until it is read, Put-in-Bay is best planned as a dive destination.

The reefs run shallow — Gibraltar Bar under 2 m, Starve Island 3-6 m, Ballast and Sugar 2-6 m — with current through the island gaps and constant summer boat traffic.

Which Bass Islands reefs can you dive, and how deep?

Everything here is snorkel or single-tank depth over limestone, and the current between the islands is the variable that changes site to site. The legal column is the same on every row: forage fish by any method including a spear, game fish treated as closed. Two more reefs belong on the same list — Buckeye Reef off Middle Bass in 1-3 m, very exposed, and West Reef off North Bass in 2-3 m, where the international line is close, so stay south of it.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
Gibraltar Bar	Reef	0.5-2 m	Snorkel to single tank · forage fish only, game fish closed	Shore entry	Shallow limestone bar between Gibraltar Island and the South Bass shore, right in Put-in-Bay harbour. Under 2 m, hard bottom, easy swim from the public dock; boat traffic is heavy all summer.

Surface

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

Spots in United States

🇺🇸United States

Lake Erie

Lake St. Clair & connecting waters

Lake Huron

Help us make it better

The water column

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The seabed

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Surfacing

What's in season,
what the law says.

Spearfishing in Put-in-Bay: spots, seasons and rules

TL;DR

Which Bass Islands reefs can you dive, and how deep?

Lake Michigan — East Shore

Lake Michigan — West Shore

Lake Ontario

Is spearfishing allowed at Put-in-Bay?

Why game fish are treated as closed here

Why the islands are the clearest water on Erie

Current, ferries and the international line

Season, temperature, licence and gear

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

Put-in-Bay spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Put-in-Bay by email

Spots in United States

🇺🇸United States

Lake Erie

Lake St. Clair & connecting waters

Lake Huron

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Which Bass Islands reefs can you dive, and how deep?

Lake Michigan — East Shore

Lake Michigan — West Shore

Lake Ontario

Is spearfishing allowed at Put-in-Bay?

Why game fish are treated as closed here

Why the islands are the clearest water on Erie

Current, ferries and the international line

Season, temperature, licence and gear

FAQ

Sources

Nearby towns

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

What's in season,
what the law says.