Lake Charlevoix is northern Michigan at its finest — 17,000 acres of clear, cold, cobble-bottomed Lake Michigan drainage water in Charlevoix County, connected to Lake Michigan through the Pine River Channel in the town of Charlevoix. It is a beautiful lake in a beautiful part of Michigan, and while the tourism industry has been on to that fact for decades, the fly fishing community has been slower to give Lake Charlevoix the credit its smallmouth bass fishery deserves.
Smallmouth bass are the fly rod story on Lake Charlevoix, and it’s a very good story. The lake’s clear water, rocky and cobble structure, and healthy crayfish and sculpin populations have produced a smallmouth fishery that regularly delivers 3 and 4-pound fish with 5-pound bass appearing often enough to keep you fishing hard all day. Lake Charlevoix smallmouth fly fishing is sight fishing in the truest sense during the summer months — the water clarity allows fly fishers working from a kayak or small boat to spot individual fish on the rocky bottom in 8 to 12 feet of water and make targeted presentations to specific bass.
Summer smallmouth fly fishing on Lake Charlevoix peaks from late June through August. Fish work the cobble and boulder fields of the main lake, particularly along the north shore structure and around the rock points of the south arm. Crayfish patterns, sculpin imitations, and small Clouser minnows produce consistently. Morning and evening topwater fishing with small poppers and Sneaky Pete patterns produces explosive strikes from aggressive fish that have moved shallow during low-light windows.
The Pine River Channel connecting Lake Charlevoix to Round Lake and Lake Michigan provides a unique current fishing opportunity — smallmouth stack in the channel current and feed actively, providing a river-style fishing experience within a lake system.
Target Species: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch, Walleye, Northern Pike Best Seasons: June–September (smallmouth peak) | Spring (walleye) | Fall (pike) Fly Patterns: Crayfish patterns, sculpin streamers, Clousers, small poppers Notable Areas: North shore rock structure, Pine River Channel, south arm points, Horton Bay
Lake Charlevoix Fly Fishing Bass Michigan: A GuideLake Charlevoix Fly Fishing Bass Michigan is not a polite, sip your coffee type of trip. It is loud eats, bent rods, and […]