Courtesy Photo Jonathan Durtka, president of the Michigan Spearfishing Association, holds up a 22-inch walleye he caught while spearfishing.

ALPENA — Michigan Spearfishing Association will be hosting its annual tournament from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today starting at the Alpena Municipal Boathouse.

Sign-in, rules and safety will begin at 8 a.m. before anglers head out on the water. Weigh-in will start at 3 p.m. and a fish fry will begin at 4 p.m. The awards ceremony and raffle drawing will be held at 5 p.m.

The event is held is various places across the state each year, and this year Alpena was selected.

“Now that we have the new law passed that allows underwater spearfishing for walleye, northern pike, and lake trout in certain portions of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, it is growing fairly quickly,” Jonathan Durtka, president of the Michigan Spearfishing Association, said of the sport.

He said as of Friday, 18 teams were signed up, and he expected that number to jump to at least 22 by this morning.

Durtka said that Great Lakes Divers shop in Alpena has one of the best inventories for spearfishing gear in stock at a time when it’s difficult to find some of the gear you need for the sport.

“If people get interested, I hope they drive up here or reach out to them (Great Lakes Divers) and get some gear, and get in the water and see what it’s all about,” Durtka said.

He’s been spearfishing since 2018.

“The best part about spearfishing, to me, is, there’s two things — the first one is you’re going to get to see everything underneath the water,” he said. “All the weeds, all the dropoffs, the rocks, the fish, how to interact with their environment, and how they react to you in the water.

“The second thing is it’s a very physically challenging sport,” he said. “You have to dive underneath the water, sometimes hold your breath for upwards of a minute, take these fish and hunt them down and learn the tactics to become successful. I think people who enjoy those kinds of things fall in love with this sport.”

Durtka said it’s an amazing way to experience and enjoy the Great Lakes.

“We have the largest body of fresh water in North America, and you have some of the best diving opportunities in the world, as far as fresh water,” he added. “With underwater spearfishing, you can shoot some fish and get dinner.”

He added that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources requires you to report your spearfishing events in their database.

“The DNR is making it mandatory that all underwater spearfishing activity be reported on a monthly basis through an online tool,” Durtka said. “Every time you go out, you have to report how long you went, where you went, and what you shot.”

As of 2021, the types of fish you can spear now include lake trout, walleye, and northern pike, in addition to your normal rough fish, such as carp and catfish.

“They’re going to use that data, collected over the next three years, to make the conclusion on the sport, and what its future is in the Great Lakes,” Durtka said.