I’m trying to plan a 2019 Fall trip back to the Charlevoix area. Seems like the weather has now turned pretty bad in that area. Is the current weather typical for this time of year? I had been thinking maybe the first or second week of October but would I be better off earlier in September? Or is the nasty weather actually better for the smallmouth fishing? I can handle the cooler temps but my wife will be coming with me. What time period would you guys recommend? Thanks!
September can be tricky. Could be 85, could be 35. As a general rule September is the point of transition, so I would avoid it for fishing. Having said that, I had one of my best days thus far in September, but it isn't truly a fall bite.
I would aim for early to mid October. The weather will be cool most certainly, but I would frame it as a color tour. In the leaves defense they are beautiful, but the fishing is and can be phenomenal. I can promise you the fish don't care about the cold, rain and wind.
early sept is usually nice weather - and as mentioned, mid to late can be anything. Early oct can be 65 and mild or 8" of snow (rare but not that rare). Typical oct weather is 40-50 and cloudy/spitty rain nonsense with some big blows here and there - and a smattering of nice days tossed in between.
seems like recent years, the cold weather has held off well into november for the most part, but i know plenty of times it snowed early oct. Best time to fish is in the snow though.... ;)
I'm up in Charlevoix this week and it has been tough...Fished yesterday on Charlevoix in close to 80 degree weather and couldn't get bit...Rained like heck last night and today it was 40 degrees with sustained winds over 20 mph....I ran down to Green lake and fished for a couple of hours and finally loaded up and went back to my cottage....
I did have a nice day out on the water yesterday even though fishing was tough..The fall colors were awesome and I ran up to Charlevoix for lunch...I only saw 2 other boats all day..
"Historically the most terrible things-war, genocide and slavery-have resulted not from disobedience but from obedience"
Zinn
October is when the bite turns on but the weather is unpredictable. I would expect a heavy wind for at least 2-3 days out of 7. Late October the winds seems to die down a bit but water temps drop off drastically. Fall colors are usually around the 2nd weekend in October.
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