Utah State Spearfishing Championship

Utah State Spearfishing Championship Registration


It’s our pleasure to announce the 2025 annual Fish Lake spearfishing tournament sponsored by NFSA.  With great past success and growing interest, we have decided to make this the crowning regional event,  which will now be the Utah State Spearfishing Championships. This is a fun event for divers of all  experience levels. 

Fish Lake is a beautiful alpine lake located three hours from Salt Lake City. This picturesque venue is  known for its clear waters and abundant fish species, including perch, sucker, carp, various trout  species, and tiger muskie. The lake has produced world record catches of muskie, lake trout, splake, and  brown trout. 

This State Championships is open to anyone who would like to participate however we are capping the participation to 125 divers for the championship, which sign-ups will be first-come, first-served. The tournament day for this event will be August 2, 2025 with the schedule and details below. 

In addition to the Utah State Championships, we want to continue to expand our focus on spearfishing opportunities for youth of all experience levels. We will be hosting an annual event that will focus on education and a fun competition for youth from 5 to 17 years of age. This is our 2nd annual JAWS or Juniors  at Worlds Spearfishing event. 

So, what does it cost to attend this amazing event with a group campsite for up to 4 nights, reserved  picnic/pavilion area, dessert night, activities, 2 dinners and awesome awards? The total cost is $30 per diver for the Utah State Championships. There is also a $5 fee per individual attending the tournament to assist in covering food and camping costs. The NFSA membership is free this  year and we will only be charging for actual events attended.  

This year we will have some incredible prizes from our amazing sponsors, which will be given to winning  raffle ticket holders. Raffle tickets will be given out as awards during several activities, to tournament  winners, and may also be purchased.

Event Directors
Garion Rowett – Fish Lake Tournament Director
(801) 400-5242
growett@lehi-ut.gov

Kenny Western – NFSA Event Director
(435) 627-7275
nfsaeventdirector@gmail.com

Utah State Spearfishing Championships Schedule

Wednesday, July 30th 

  • 2 PM – Group site is available for check-in. This will be a day to settle in, get to know each other.

Thursday, July 31st 

  • Mentors/Volunteers needed for JAWS (Please see JAWS schedule and contact an Event Director to sign up. • All divers, friends and family for JAWS and the State Championships are invited to the Frying Pan group  campsite for dessert and social gathering at 6:30 PM. 

Friday, August 1st 

  • Mentors and Volunteers will be needed for this day. Please contact us to volunteer.
  • We encourage all divers, family and friends that are attending JAWS or the State Championships to join us  for the JAWS banquet dinner and award ceremony from 5:30 PM to 8 PM. 

Saturday, August 2nd 

  • 7 AM – 7:30 AM Pre-dive meeting at Twin Creeks Picnic area. We will review safety, rules, needs, etc. All divers  depart at the same time. 
  • 7:30 AM to 8 AM – Travel to starting dive locations. This is a swim/kayak only event. You may be in the water and  traveling to your starting location, but loaded guns are not allowed during this time. 
  • 8 AM – 2 PM – Competition dive time. NO loaded guns before 8 AM or after 2 PM.  
  • 2:45 PM – All divers must be back to Twin Creeks Picnic area by this time for the fish count.  5:30 PM – Banquet dinner at Twin Creeks Pavilion 
  • 6:30 to 8 PM – Award ceremony and prize raffle 

Sunday, August 3rd

  • Check out of Frying Pan campsite by 12 PM


 

General Rules for the Utah State Spearfishing Championships 

  1. All spearfishing participants must join NFSA, which is free, complete the online registration and the  payment for this event, sign a waiver or have a guardian sign a waiver if under 18 years of age, and  complete the online survey regarding gear, experience, mentors, camping, etc. By signing the Waiver, you  understand the potential dangers and risks of this sport. Registration will start on Jan. 1, 2025. https://nationalfreshwaterspearfishing.org/pages/membership 
  2. Adhere to the JAWS tournament schedules above. 
  3. No loaded guns out or above the water at any time. No loaded guns before or after the competition time on  the tournament day. 
  4. This is an individual event so please keep your fish separate from others. 
  5. No motorized boats of any kind on the competition day. Motorized boats are allowed for scouting only.
  6. Each diver or mentor must display a legal dive flag on a float or their non-motorized vessel for safety, as  there can be boat traffic. Divers without a float and dive flag will be disqualified. 
  7. Fish hauling devices are legal, such as buoys, boogie boards, kayaks, or canoes. Divers may use kayaks,  canoes, paddleboards or similar for transport. 
  8. All participants must abide by the fishing regulations. Please be familiar with the DWR rules for this lake.  No limit on carp, sucker or perch. Limit of 4 combined trout/salmon with only 1 exceeding 24”. 1 muskie  and it must be 40” or longer. Utah Fishing Regulations - https://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/fishing regulations.html. Buy a fishing license - https://wildlife.utah.gov/fishing/main-fishing-page.html
  9. This is a freediving event only.  
  10. No chumming is allowed at any time. Flashers may be used. 
  11. If you shoot extra fish, they may not be discarded in the lake. Please bring them to the fish count.
  12. Judges reserve the right to disqualify divers who have intentionally or unintentionally violated any rules.  Please know and observe the rules. If you have a violation or witness other divers violating rules, whether  intentional or not, please respectfully review the violation with the weigh-in judges.

Utah State Spearfishing Championships Scoring 

  • 20 perch  
    • 1 point per perch 
    • 1 point per lb. (Example – If total weight of perch =10.83 lbs., that would = 10.83 pts.)
  • 1 trout of any type – 5 points 
  • Unlimited carp and sucker – 3 points each. 
  • We are planning to have a men’s and women’s division.

 

Lodging Options 
NFSA reserved the Frying Pan group campsite for 100 people from July 30 to August 3. Please contact an event  director to reserve for your group. This is first-come, first-served and included with the event fee.  

Other options include camping in free unimproved camp areas, improved campsites at Fish Lake, cabin rentals or  hotels in nearby towns such as Loa, UT, etc. 

The main cabin rental options are with Bowery Haven Resort -  The cabin reservation for  2025 starts on November 15, 2024 at 6 AM. The cabins book right away, so if you are interested, plan to book  right as the booking opens.

 

Map location of Fish Lake
https://goo.gl/maps/dvLnM3ybcgmrV4fu7

Need a Fishing License?

Information on Fishing Regulations