For lake Michigan surfers, fall means carving waves, not pumpkins

BENTON HARBOR, Mich.-- Beach season might be over on Lake Michigan, but surf season is just getting started.

For surfers, autumn is when Lake Michigan comes alive.

Tyler spence, owner of stoke riders, has been surfing on lake Michigan for the last decade.
"A lake wave here is pure bliss," spence described.
While he’s caught waves everywhere from the outer banks of North Carolina to the east coast of Brazil, spence said some of the best waves are here in southwest Michigan, especially for beginners.

"You have really mellow waves most of the time," spence explained. "We have all these peers and point breaks that you have all to yourself to get your skills."

Someone working on her skills was Julianne Hood, a senior at the University of Michigan.

This is her first time surfing in the Great Lake, and it's a different challenge compared to her usual waves off Virginia Beach.

"There's a really nice break right there, but the current's kind of like pushing me out of the good parts," hood explained.

"It's really nice having fresh water instead of salt water, because you get out and you don't feel disgusting," hood added.

For both Hood and Spence, the 2025 surf season got started disgustingly late.

"When it's flat out there and, you know, maybe boaters love it, but we get that itch and we want to get on the water," Spence said.

"The water temperature has been really warm. The air is really warm. we just weren't getting those systems coming through," Spence recalled.

That changed in late October,

When the waves woke up on the wrong side of the lakebed.

But even if the lake isn't all that angry…surfing on lake Michigan can still be a fun fall activity.

"A lot of times you might even look at the water and say, 'Oh, that doesn't look big enough, or that doesn't look, you know, good enough.' and honestly, you get out there and it's way better than you thought," Spence said.

Thanks to the warmth of their wetsuits, Tyler Spence explained that the only thing that can stop surfers is ice on the lake.

Even if air temperatures dip into the single digits, surf's up.