Idaho Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater RestrictedFreshwater Permitted

Idaho is a landlocked state with no saltwater, so all spearfishing is freshwater. Spearfishing (taking fish while underwater with a hand- or mechanically-propelled spear) has long been legal for unprotected nongame fish, and only during an open game-fish season on that water.

License

Required: Idaho Fishing License (standard - no separate spearfishing license exists)

Resident: Resident Annual Fishing $30.50 ($25.75 with Price Lock); Resident Daily Fishing $13.50 first day + $6.00 each consecutive day; Resident Junior (14-17) $16.00; Resident 3-Year Fishing $73.75. Figures reflect the official Dec 1, 2024 fee schedule and may be adjusted; confirm at purchase.

Non-resident: Nonresident Annual Fishing $108.00; Nonresident Daily Fishing $22.75 first day + $7.00 each consecutive day; Nonresident Junior (14-17) $23.75; Nonresident 3-Year Fishing $291.25. Figures reflect the official Dec 1, 2024 fee schedule and may be adjusted; confirm at purchase.

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Permitted. Idaho's definition of spearfishing expressly covers a 'mechanically propelled' spear, which includes spearguns, provided.
• Pole spears: Permitted. A 'manually propelled single- or multiple-pronged spear' (hand-thrown or hand-driven pole spear) is within the statutory.
• On scuba: Idaho requires the person to be underwater to spearfish, so free diving, snorkeling and SCUBA are all consistent with the rule; IDFG's.
• The spearfisher must be underwater - 'Taking of fish by a person while underwater' - so you may not spear fish while standing, wading at.
• Firearms are excluded as a method of take (a 'mechanical device, excluding firearms')
• A gaff hook is prohibited except in two narrow cases in the codified rule: while ice fishing in waters with no length restriction.

Do not spear

• Any GAME fish in any water NOT specifically listed in the IDFG 2025-2027 Spearfishing Season and Rules
• Trout
• Bull trout
• White sturgeon
• Any protected nongame species; only UNPROTECTED nongame fish may be speared, and only during an open game-fish season on that water

Area restrictions

• Game-fish spearfishing is limited to the specific enumerated waters by region (Panhandle: Walleye statewide-region, Lake Trout in Lake Pend Oreille.
• On the Pack River and tributaries, fishing (including spearfishing) is closed 100 yards upstream and downstream of Grouse Creek Falls on Grouse Creek
• Standard water-by-water closures, seasons and special rules in the IDFG Fishing Seasons and Rules apply; you may not spearfish a water that is closed.

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG): https://web.archive.org/web/20260630232203/https://idfg.idaho.gov/