Ohio Spearfishing Rules Card

Legal status

Saltwater RestrictedFreshwater Permitted

Ohio is a Great Lakes / freshwater state (Lake Erie, the Ohio River, and inland waters) with no ocean coast, so all spearfishing is freshwater under Ohio Division of Wildlife rules.

License

Required: Ohio Fishing License

Resident: Resident 1-Year $25.00; Resident 1-Day $14.00 (creditable toward an annual); Resident 3-Year $72.11; Resident 5-Year $120.18; Resident 10-Year $240.36; Resident Lifetime $599.04; Resident Senior (age-qualified) 1-Year $10.00 / Lifetime $84.24. Fees for the 2026-27 license period.

Non-resident: Nonresident 1-Year $76.96; Nonresident 1-Day $27.04; Nonresident 3-Day $52.00.

Gear rules

• Spearguns: Not separately named or restricted in Ohio's rules.
• Pole spears: Not separately named or restricted; treated as a lawful 'method' for taking forage/rough fish only, subject to the same banned-means list.
• On scuba: Ohio's fishing rules do not address SCUBA, re-breathers or snorkeling and impose no dive-mode restriction on taking forage fish - so no.
• Spearing/gigging/bow may lawfully take ONLY the designated forage/rough fish - never game fish
• Forage fish may be taken by any method EXCEPT explosives, poisons, firearms, electricity, chemicals, nets other than cast nets, seines.
• Bowfishing ('Archery anglers') is allowed with bows of any draw weight, for forage fish, bullfrogs and green frogs, with a fishing license
• Grass carp may be speared only in waters NOT stocked by the Division of Wildlife for vegetation control (posted); stocked grass carp are.

Do not spear

• All black bass
• Walleye, sauger and saugeye
• Yellow perch
• Crappie
• Channel, blue and flathead catfish and bullheads
• Trout and salmon, including Lake Erie steelhead
• Muskellunge and northern pike
• White bass, white perch and hybrid striped bass
• Paddlefish
• Lake sturgeon

…and 1 more — full list at islandspearco.com/regulations/ohio

Area restrictions

• Waters owned or controlled by the Division of Wildlife can carry special fishing regulations (OAC 1501:31-13-07) that may further limit methods -.
• Snagging (and thus taking) of any fish is prohibited within 1,000 feet downstream of any dam on the Muskingum River and within 1,000 feet downstream.
• Pymatuning Lake (Ohio-Pennsylvania border): fish may be taken only by angling EXCEPT carp and suckers, which may be taken with longbow and arrow.
• Lake Erie and named tributaries and the Ohio River have site-specific regulations layered on top of the statewide rules - verify the specific water

Before you dive

• Never dive alone: one up, one down.
• Check current seasons and sizes the morning of the dive.
• Confirm with Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife: https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/wildlife