Indiana Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater RestrictedFreshwater Permitted

Indiana is a landlocked state with no ocean coast, so there is no saltwater spearfishing; all spearing is freshwater.

License

Required: Indiana Annual Fishing License

Resident: Resident Annual Fishing $23; Resident One-Day Fishing (includes trout/salmon) $10; Resident Senior Annual Fishing (age 64+, includes trout/salmon) $3; Resident Senior Fish for Life (age 64+, includes trout/salmon) $23; Annual Hunting and Fishing $32. Fees valid Apr 1, 2025-Mar 31, 2026.

Non-resident: Nonresident Annual Fishing $60; Nonresident One-Day Fishing (includes trout/salmon) $15; Nonresident Seven-Day Fishing $35. Fees valid Apr 1, 2025-Mar 31, 2026.

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Legal for taking the seven allowed rough/invasive species (invasive/Asian carp, bowfin, buffalo fish, common carp, gar, shad, suckers) from.
• Pole spears: Not named separately in the DNR guide. A hand-propelled pole spear falls under the guide's terms 'fish spear' or 'underwater spear' and is.
• On scuba: The DNR fishing guide does not address SCUBA for spearfishing one way or the other.
• Only invasive (Asian) carp, bowfin, buffalo fish, common carp, gar, shad, and suckers may be taken by spear, gig, spear gun, underwater.
• Gig, fish spear, spear gun and underwater spear are limited to non-flowing waters (lakes/ponds/reservoirs) plus six named large rivers.
• In the Tippecanoe River, fish spears and fish gigs cannot be used in, on, or adjacent to the river from a half mile below its juncture.
• In Lake Michigan tributaries, use of a spear gun, club, snag hook or underwater spear is prohibited in/adjacent to the Galena River, Trail.

Do not spear

• All game fish are off-limits to spear/gig/bow methods, including largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, striped, hybrid striped, white, yellow and rock bass
• Walleye, sauger and walleye-sauger hybrid
• Muskellunge and tiger muskellunge
• Crappie, bluegill and other sunfish/panfish
• Channel, blue and flathead catfish
• Trout and salmon
• Shovelnose sturgeon and any state endangered/special-concern species
• Native mussels and their shells

Area restrictions

• Tippecanoe River: fish spears and gigs banned from a half mile below the Big Creek juncture (Carroll County) up to the Oakdale Dam
• Lake Michigan tributaries (Galena River, Trail Creek, East/West Branch Little Calumet River, Salt Creek, Burns Ditch, Deep River below the Lake.
• Ohio River: within 200 yards below any dam, fish may be taken only by fishing pole or hand line - no spearing
• Spear guns/underwater spears are not permitted on general streams and rivers - only on non-flowing waters and the six named large rivers

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish & Wildlife (IDNR): https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/