Avoid the cluster of hotels in Roseville. There's several there, just off of 94, but I'd not stay there. You're on the edge of what can be considered a not great area. I know of alot of bass guys here for tx's who've come out and their tires and gear are gone in the morning. There's a Concorde Inn on Gratiot that would put you in a great spot to launch at Selfridge and not too far from Harley and Crocker. I'd consider it fairly safe. The other option are the small no-name motels on the north side of the bay.

If you've never fished here before a guide is always a good idea. As far as guides, you have to be really careful as we've got a slew of illegal guides operating here without proper licensing. Most know who they are, but if not, PM me, and I can fill you in.

As far as licensed guides and great guys to boot, there's Chad Sandy who's a member here and Spencer Berman. Both friends of mine, both excellent anglers, both hard workers, and both legal. I'd send my Mom and Dad out with either one of them, that's how much I trust them. I think Spencer still has some dates open this summer, though I know his fall is booked. Chad doesn't guid full time, so you'd need to get with him and see what he has available. But bottom line is you can't go wrong with either of them.

There's a couple other guides here, but one I'm not even sure is guiding this year, and the other I barely know and won't speak for him.

Other than that, if you want to go sans guide, Will had a LSC thread that posts maps and such. Those are all good community spots that hold fish. Anchor Bay is a good starting point, as it holds fish year-round. I don't care what anyone says. That said, I hardly ever fish the Bay due to the pressure and other boat traffic.

Fishing down south of Metro down the Mile roads is also an area that holds fish.

"muskaholic" said:
But there are scammers everywhere huh. I trust the people on this site and not some jackass from craigslist that thinks hes the best because someone he went fishing with caught a big fish…

They're not really scammers or random people, just not properly certified to guide on lake. One has to take a lot of courses/tests to get certified on LSC and some people just don't want to do that. Some of them are good fisherman and catch hundreds of fish every year, but simply don't have the proper guiding licenses for that body of water.

I think scammers is a perfect word… they're scamming the system because they know it's not likely that the USCG will set up a trip with them to bust them.

"vano397" said:

Just call a bunch of times (like 50) and say they are illegally chumming… [smilie=gayfight.gif]

HAHA! The Betts vs Sputnik battle sure ramped up a few notches this winter didn't it.

There are a lot of river guides without their proper licensing as well. Some stretches of river require you to have a full captains lisence and others dont, the cutoffs don't make a lot of since. On the muskegon river you dont need one up by pine street but do need one downstream from newaygo. They really need to overhaul the entire process for guides and captains in the state and also go after some of the guys who are too cheap to get the proper lisencing and insurance.

"Mayhem" said:
HAHA! The Betts vs Sputnik battle sure ramped up a few notches this winter didn't it.

Thanks, I realized after I made the post that most everyone would be in the dark on that one, so its good to have the clarificatiion!

At least with the no licence thing you know the judge will stick it to them, instead of laugh and throw it out…

And if we can learn anything else from the Betts vs. GDL quarrel, the authorities plan well, and make the situation as hard on the offender as possible. In that case they took him down below the m-37 bridge just so they could get his capt. licence too.