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Random Quote: CAPT TO CREW--I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE,,BUT WE ARE MAKING darn GOOD TIME.
Any ideas or info that can be shared on planning trips to fish the Venice LA area or nearby areas over the next few months?
Never been there, always heard about it and the great fishing. Have a GW 360 I'd like to take over and fish for a few days, could use Marina info, areas to fish, areas to avoid, even maybe guides to hire for a day or two that could accompany us on my boat and show us the area?
Definitely want to fish my 360 and not interested in hiring a boat, but would pay for the expertise and experience if someone could be our onboard guide and manage the cockpit and get us on fish.
Look on Bloody Decks.com the site has a forum from Venice LA and plenty of good info. as far as hiring a local captain for a day brilliant. it can really help the local learning curve . we are going down in the middle of Febuary to try and catch some YFT. Good luck
The Venice Marina is located at the end of the road (hwy 23), south if New Orleans and is where you want to go. They have a ramp, rooms to rent, tackle, advice, etc., etc. There is a LOT to learn about fishing this area, from running down the river, to the capped off well heads you will want to avoid offshore, to etc., etc., etc. - ie. LOTS of local knowledge is required to fish this area and catch fish while not getting in trouble running to and from the fishing areas.
Once there the best thing anyone with a boat like yours who is new to the area can do is hire a local guide to go with you on your boat - at least for the first couple of days - it's very cheap insurance, and there are several good guides available at the marina who for a reasonable fee will go on your boat and show how/where, etc. (for instance, you need live bait and they know where to get it + they know where the bite was yesterday, etc. - you mentioned this, so you know).
Good luck - lots of people here know more about that area than I do.
Sel - Look at Grand Isle you can visit www.grand-isle.com to find anything that you need. We are fully operational with full service restaurants, full service grocery, full service marinas, deep water passes, less debris, less fog, etc. Coming down this time of the year, I assume that you are looking at fishing the lump. Grand Isle is the same distance from the lump as other locations, it just does not get the publicity.
You and your boat are welcome and I can personally turn you on to no less then three of our regular deckhands that also hire themselves out to captain private boats when needed. They all have captains licenses and would be happy to help any way that you need.
What ever you decide, we welcome you to our little piece of heaven and hope that you have a good time.
I see that the home page seems to have a large horizontal scroll to it but the page is fully visible without scrolling on my computer. It seems to be the home page only. I will mention it to the tourist commission to see what they can do about it.
I'd second the Grand Isle recomendation. Fishes the same waters, but there's a lot more to do. Venice has NOTHING. I mean nothing. the marina is it there. On GI at least there are a few bars, a beach, a grocery store, and a few restaurants. Don't go expecting Key West, but after you've been there a while you'll learn to appreciate it's....er....charm.
Bridgeside Marina on west end of island
Sandollar Marina/Pirate's Cove on East end.
Gulfstream in the middle. All would have whatever you need
make sure you have the chip for for the area in your GPS, make sure you have a radar, make sure you know how to use it in Fog. if headed to the lumps, bring out the big gear. Have fun, expect the first run to be a learning experience and expect the trips after that to get productive.
We stayed at the hotel @ Cypress Cover Marina. Recently I have heard of some good cabins where you can stay, they cook you breakfast, pack you a lunch and make dinner.....we will stay at a place like this next time.
WildLines - 12/22/2007 6:08 AM We stayed at the hotel @ Cypress Cover Marina. Recently I have heard of some good cabins where you can stay, they cook you breakfast, pack you a lunch and make dinner.....we will stay at a place like this next time.
Would you mind posting, or PM'g this info? Thanks.
Sel,were are you coming from?At this time of the year there are alot of boats that come from out of state and take up alot of space at the marinas down in Venice.Grand Isle does have more opening.Are you planning on trailering or by water?Are you planning on having someone drive a car down too?
Post this question on the Gulf fourm here on this web site or at www.rodnreel.com and I am sure you will get a ton of info.
will be coming over from the FL panhandle, boat too big to trailer. ideally would have someone drive a car over to provide transport while we're there for a few days.
Venice and Grand Isle are both great, but if you are planning on Venice, make sure to hire a guide for at least a day. The river can be outright scary when its dark as hell, foggy as soup, cold and there are 800' freighters, workboats, fishing boats, shrimp boats and crew boats all in the mix. (not to mention the crazy duck hunters zipping around in the go devils). As Darryl said, Grand Isle is just as close and there is virtually no fog and no river, but it is open water the entire way....either way have fun and be careful.
I was fortunate enough to fish out of Venice prior to the SKA Nationals for two days. What a place!! We put in at Biloxi and went to Venice. I actually have been on the Ols Miss. Now. Weirdest thing I saw was an airboat in the Miss. River with a Radome on it. Then in Venice Marina I saw a bay boat (did not see what kind) with twin Mercs. I also saw a few bay boat boats with Radomes.
Definitely do your research before you go. If you have radar, use it. If you have the disposable income to get some updated charts of all the platforms, definitely worth the $$. I stayed in Venice and have to agree, there is nothing there. Also, please be careful of the capped oil wells or whatever their called.
If I was going there and did not want to hire a guide, I would not leave the marina until the sun came up so I could plot a course on the GPS to follow the next day.
Planning trips to Venice LA or vicinity 
