Fish ON! That's what you'll be yelling when you come on down to beautiful Leeville, LA. Perched…read moreon the water's edge like an unobtrusive pelican waiting for his chance to eat, the Top Water Marina offers pleasant accommodations and a friendly atmosphere for all of your fishing needs. This is a fisherman's lodge maintained by fishermen for fisherman. While you won't find 1000 thread count sheets and chocolates on your pillow, you will find easy access to all points fishing in the area, convenient in water parking for your boat and a double sided launch ready to get you on water in a hurry or out of it just as quickly. I had the pleasure of staying in the bunkhouse and lodge, which are located over The Sandbar. I tried to count all of the beds, but got tired of it (pun intended). Needless to say, there is enough room for as many anglers as you care to bring. The Sandbar wasn't "open" when I visited, but it was included with our lodging package. Flat screen tv's and roll up doors make you feel one with nature all while still catching the game. Getting to your honey hole fast, local fare right down the road and a lovely staff will make this your "Top" choice for a fishing getaway.

Great location...close to all fishing spots. Very nice boat…read moreramp, dockage and cabins. Fresh water wash-down when done fishing. Close to food, bait, groceries. I trailed my boat down from Chicago in April and the accommodations were outstanding for anyone wanting to fish or just get away. I stayed 3 or 4 days and caught reds, specs, gafftop cats and rays. I will journey there again in 2020.

Best Fishing guide, period. Limit out on reds in an hour fish the rest of the day and crush it…read moreevery time. Restaurant food is amazing too.

Sportsman's Paradise is a hotel, restaurant and fishing charter marina. We were in Chauvin and…read moredecided to eat lunch here. The lunch was pretty good. The service was mediocre. We ordered shrimp gumbo, bronzed shrimp, a shrimp platter, a shrimp salad and an oyster po-boy. The shrimp gumbo was very good. Although it was a only a cup, it had a good amount of large shrimp. The shrimp platter was very good as well. The shrimp were butterflied (I prefer non-butterflied) and fried perfectly. The platter came loaded with fries and four pieces of toast. The shrimp salad had homemade ranch which was excellent. The bronzed shrimp and po-boy both looked good, but I didn't try either. Our server seemed disinterested and never brought some of our party utensils. She wasn't very friendly either. The food made up for the poor service. If your in Chauvin, and want a good seafood meal, head to Sportsman's paradise. I should also mention that they sell really cool t-shirts. The shirts list several famous cities and have a recognizable image for each city. Check the photos and you will see one.

Closest launch to all the action In dulac. Good group of people and my neighbor is good friends…read morewith the owner. They know the area well and can stock U up for your trip.

A hidden gem - the restaurant! We stopped here to eat while we were getting our fish cleaned down…read morethe road and it was delicious!!

The employees are very nice, and helpful! Good food, good service! Good prices! Way better than…read morecoco marina! Rooms aren't high class, but place is set for people on fishing trips, not high class. But the service you get is wonderful! After going to coco marina and having the worst experience ever, tradewinds is the only place I'll spend my money down there!

I never forget my "chalmatian" buddy was fishing like mad and this old black guy driving an antique…read morerusted pickup truck, sitting on a 5 gallon bucket with a cane pole kept bugging him. The guy was like "wu, wu, wu, what did you use for bait"?? His stuttering got to be so bad he could hardly get the words out. He was like that attorney in "my cousin vinny". He kept asking a bunch of questions- "do, do, do, do you fish the top or the bottom?" "Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo like live bait or u, u,u, u, use beetles?" When the guy asked him "we, we, we, well how many fish did you catch?" my boy replied "5, 5, and 5. (Pointing to each of the three persons in his group as he said 5) Why!? What the fu@& do you CARE?!" and he hurled some insults about his speech and intellect... The guy didn't stutter one bit. He pulled out a badge and said "I want to know because I'm with wildlife and fisheries. You're not 5, 5, and 5- because I've been here watching you the whole time. You're 5 & 10 over the limit at $500 a fish. He is zero, and he is zero (pointing at the other two guys), so could you please sign this citation and I'll see you Monday morning at the courthouse on canal st. with your $5000 fine!!" We all liked to die when the guy lost his "disabled act". Everyone let their guard down partially because we were in a place where you pay, think there's some type of protection, but nope!

Myrtle Grove is a great place to go fishing, duck hunting, and just see the bounty of the wetlands…read moreof Louisiana. There are crabs, ducks, gators, fish, and all sorts of other wildlife in abundance. The Marina offers supplies and live bait for your adventures. Even if you don't have a boat for a small fee you can just fish right off the docks of the Marina (and there are some huge redfish jumping all over the place around the docks). It is the only place in the area so some of the things are priced at a premium so plan accordingly. The Marina offers an excellent fish cleaning station that is so convenient that it makes it worth your while to pay the launch or dock usage fees so you don't have to do the messy job at home. Definitely one of the best places for redfish, crabs, and trout within range of a very quick drive from New Orleans. Myrtle Grove Marina video review: https://youtu.be/s8UaWHms7zg

So this isn't really a review of the Sand Dollar's ice or fuel, although I'm sure they're both…read moreswell. The bar at the Sand Dollar marina is my favorite place to go in Grand Isle. It's just a simple little outdoor bar, and this simplicity is what makes it awesome. In the past, the Sand Dollar was a great bar to grab a stool and a drink, talk to random people, and watch the boats and fisherman come in. This bar has an islandy feel, but not in a forced, superficial touristy way. You can definitely (and should) lose track of time here, and it's an excellent haunt to engage in some day drinking.The 2 ladies that run the bar are great and have always made me feel comfortable. Keep in mind the previous paragraph describes the pre-oil spill Sand Dollar. Since the oil spill, the crowd has changed dramatically. The Sand Dollar Marina serves as a cleanup command center, which means the crowd mostly consists of cleanup workers. Hopefully this will be changing soon, since some of the fisherman are returning and BP is in the process of scaling back its cleanup operations. The Sand Dollar bar was also on the Rachel Maddow show during the height of the oil spill frenzy. Rachel interviewed the two ladies that own the bar and tried one of their tarball shots on her show. The tarball is a jello shot consisting of Jager and grape koolaid. I don't like Jager, so it's not my thing, but I tried one for the hell of it. The Sand Dollar also has a convenience store with a deli in the back. I always get the fried shrimp poboy but I'm sure the other offerings are good as well.

The marina store was great- the woman who helped us get our fishing licenses was really kind and…read morehelpful both times we were there!