The Cajun Vista Lodge at Bourgeois Fishing Charters — Hotel in Barataria

We fished with Bourgeois for two days and had two different guides so I feel it would be more beneficial to write two separate reviews, as one captain would have received three stars while the other, five.

When I made our reservations a few months ago I specifically said we were coming for two days of redfish fishing.

On the first morning out, we rented two boats for nine fishermen. The second day only four fishermen went out so we had just one boat.

In my boat the first day there were four of us plus Captain Dave. The other boat was captained by Kevin and held my son, his wife, and three little boys under 10.

Upon greeting the captains in the wee hours of the morning I expressed my excitement to catch redfish. Both captains looked a bit surprised, and Captain Dave informed me we would be going for speckled trout, NOT redfish, as redfish "weren't biting." Stunned, I couldn't even respond. We had driven all the way from Colorado for redfish fishing - we consistently catch 24"-28" hard-fighting trout in our local CO lakes - and now we were going to fish for 12"-16" trout, and not redfish?

Disappointed, we climbed in our boats and away we went. Captain Dave took us to one spot and there we sat for the next six hours, casting bubbles and soft plastics for small trout. Five of us caught about 40 trout in all (Captain Dave fished, too). We did hook a couple small redfish, but we weren't targeting them at all. I asked if we might throw some shrimp at the banks and Captain Dave hurriedly put a shrimp on my soft plastic minnow. That was the only shrimp used that day. I had fished for redfish before and know this is not how we fished for them (when we went out with Bourgeois and Captain Darren about seven years ago we used shrimp on a single hook all day long). We did catch a lot of trout on the soft plastics. When the fishing slowed way down, instead of moving, we just floated around. Captain Dave was hopeful the bite would turn back on but it didn't.

Meanwhile, Captain Kevin's boat had equal success for trout but also caught some redfish and drum. He showed our grandsons some gators - one at least 11 feet long. They had a blast, and our oldest grandson caught a keeper redfish.

The second day was infinitely better for those of us who had had Captain Dave the day before. We only rented one boat and had Captain Kevin. It was my daughter-in-law's birthday and he was determined to make it memorable. It was.

We fished hard for almost eight hours, catching trout, several good-sized redfish, and drum. We moved when fishing got slow. We focused on redfish when we found them, and threw shrimp at them the right way - on a hook, no soft plastics. We had a great time. The gnats got pretty bad, but we survived their swarming as Kevin moved us to breezy areas. By day's end we had caught LOTS of fish and felt like we'd really gotten our money's worth.

I hate giving Bourgeois only four stars when Captain Kevin clearly deserved five, but since both gentlemen represent this charter service, I believe it is only fair that an honest review be given that includes the whole experience.

I understand fishing and catching are two different things. Captain Dave knew we'd catch trout. But we were there to fish for redfish. My kids have very busy, stressful schedules at home and it took some maneuvering for them to get away. We'd convinced them redfish fishing was a kick, and the long drive to LA would be worth it. My husband, daughter, and I had fished out of Venice in October and we wanted our son and his family, including our three young grandson's, all of whom are good fishermen, to experience catching a redfish.

As nice as Captain Dave was, I am very, very thankful my son's family had Captain Kevin when they were all out together or it would have been a long, frustrating day for them.

We would return to Bourgeois in a heartbeat with Captain Kevin as our guide. His passion to please is very obvious. Thanks,...

I hesitated to post this but after friends were there at the same time and caught lots of fish, I felt like I should. I saved up and took my dad and son on a single day trip with Bourgeois Charters for my dad's birthday. First of all, the lodge and food were great. But the fishing was awful. Admittedly, we had relatively bad luck with the weather. We were there the day after a big storm so the water was pretty muddy. But we only caught a single small catfish and zero redfish. And the catfish was very early in the day. Not even a single bite after that. I realize you can have bad luck, but the way this was handled by Bourgeois was frustrating. First the guides with our friends on a different charter realized the situation early and took them further south and they caught tons of fish. Second, there was very little sympathy after we got back. I realize they can't guarantee a good catch, but I expected something to try to convince us that this wasn't a normal experience there. Overall, I was very disappointed with Bourgeois. If you have a choice, I would recommend going with a...

We can’t say enough wonderful things about this place! We loved every single minute of our stay! On the first day, we arrived late due to traffic and they waited for us for dinner the first night, which was so, so good! Their chef, Wendy, is truly so talented and a wonderful cook! I have never had Cajun food this amazing in all of my life. Every meal kept getting better and better! The morning of our trip, Capt. Josh met us at our breakfast table and after that we were off. He was so good with our boys! Patient and answered every question they had and kept them catching fish our entire trip! Once we got back to the dock, while Capt. Josh cleaned our fish, Capt. Bobby told us all the stories! Joanie gave me a tour of the upstairs and told us about the re-build from the hurricane. I spent a long time talking to Wendy, Joanie & Johnnie while the boys played pool after our trip. It was so relaxing and family friendly. We cannot wait to come back! To say they know what they doing here, is an...