Booked an inshore charter with Capt. Rock of Reel Tite Guide Service for me, my wife, my son, and…read moredaughter in law and couldn't be happier with the service we received. We left from Venice Marina and we were put on fish immediately catching full limits of quality fish. The goal was to catch numbers, and we caught lots of fish, and some decent sized redfish and sheephead. The trip was enjoyable not only for the scenery but also the knowledgeable and personable captain we had. Rock gave us everything we wanted and even allowed us to keep fishing after we got our limit in hopes of catching other species as well, as we tried several spots. I will most definitely be back to fish with this guide service. I have fished for tuna, dorado, snapper, reds and many species of freshwater fish in the US and overseas and this was one of the most fun trips I've been on. I highly recommend them to others.

the owner is a bully in lacks communication skills...... pay them in January and try for 3 weeks…read moreprayer to trip to get a hold of them and they did not show up at their office and were extremely volatile and rude when they did answer over nothing. good news is he sent the gods.... bad news is he sent the guides..... they struggled to catch a limit of rat rats and we caught four bulls over a two-day period with three boats and no specs as promised..... well the rest of the gods were tearing up the specs and bulls...

If I could mark it lower - I would…read more I cannot recommend Willie B as the Capt. he is ill prepared and the owner (I think) is also full of excuses. while I understand one cannot guarantee fish they should be prepared to fish (have rigs and bait ready) and not have inferior equipment. if equipment needs to be replaced - DO IT! A $2000 ride in a fast boat to watch the "pros" do the fishing while we watched eagerly for our turn to reel in a fish or feel the adrenaline of the fight... and it's anticipation - just didn't seem right. Perhaps a different charter and certainly a different captain. Other boats brought in fish. in two days, we got four... (marlin was exciting but too small, same for sword fish). then when we did catch fish - we left that area because the "pros" seemed to be overly frustrated at not having rigs ready and having to take time to prepare them. another time we wasted an hour on bait we never used. another time we wasted over an hour while the pro prepared bait... NOT prepared. Again, I know there is no guarantee of harvesting fish - but the crews lack of preparation and faulty equipment on such an expensive endeavor is pathetic. If properly prepared several of us could have fished and increased our chances instead of watching the "pros" do the fishing.

We booked an off shore and an in shore trip. Day 1 our captain arrived over an hour late and…read moreseemed to be still suffering from a wild night. While going to catch bait fish he and his first mate got into a shouting match which lead to the first mate going to the front of the boat and sleeping the rest of the charter. The captain split his time between the boat and the lines but did neither very well. It's frustrating to watch boats around you hauling in fish but you can't even get lines in the water. On the second day we had a great day of fishing - probably over 100 fish with many keepers. My complaint here it the captain decided he also wanted to fish because the action was so hot. He often took the prime position on the boat and ignored us so we baited our own lines and still had a great day. I do have a large knot on my head where the captain hit me with his cast - I was standing in the same space I had been - this is terrible etiquette on a boat and km glad he didn't sink the hook into my ear. We will not use Super Strike again nor would we recommend.

I don't know what a charter with Capt. James is like as we were promised a Capt. James charter but…read moreended up with the 1st mate Kyle as Capt. and a person that was very pleasant but almost completely ignorant of the duties a 1st mate has to be proficient in. When I booked the trip in January for June 18th we were told by Leslie that Capt. James would not be available on that day so we booked on the 17th when he would be available. Leslie was very pleasant and seemed eager to please. I explained to Leslie that we had been on a marlin charter in Mexico and even though we caught a 10 foot Blue Marlin we hated it as it was tug and reel, tug and reel. At least we got to see the marlin jump several times which was exciting. I explained to Leslie that we would have had more fun using spinning gear to catch the bait...2-5 lb Skipjacks and that we would like to fish for whatever was biting regardless of size3 and would prefer catching 10-20 lb tuna over bigger tuna with heavy gear. When I arrived in New Orleans I received a call that Capt. James would not be available. As our charter was the next day I felt I had no choice other than to agree to having Kyle be the Capt. HUGE MISTAKE!!! Not only was Kyle aggressive and cursed at my son for not pulling in the bait fast enough but when I was reeling in the only tuna we caught, he cursed at me when I didn't do exactly as he said. We saw many schools of smaller fish (probably bonito) hitting the surface at different times but when I pointed that out Kyle replied with "We won't look at them unless they're the size of Volkswagons." Catching a 40-50 lb tuna with a pool cue fishing rod w/roller guides with the pole handle in a tuna tube is like reeling in a 50 lb manhole cover from the bottom...not what we asked for. Kyle may be a good 1st mate but he is not a good captain...he was cocky, didn't listen to the clients and when we got done he charged us for 284 gallons of gas. He said the boat got 1 mile/gallon so at 40/mph...we were out at sea for 11 hours so do the math. To top it off, when my son got out of the boat his cell phone fell out of his pocket and into 9 feet of water where alligators live. Kyle laughed and said "I knew that was going to happen." I asked him that if he knew it was going to happen why didn't he say something before it happened? Kyle said nothing and turned away. All and all, I know going fishing is not a guarantee of catching fish but to also have a miserable experience for the bargain basement price of $2,000 for the charter, $1,754 for fuel and $300 for an inexperienced 1st mate. I called and asked Leslie about the gas usage and she seemed indignant and said my son (who paid for the trip) was rude to her. I told her I was sorry if he was rude but explained the Kyle used abusive language towards my sons and I also and neither was the right thing to do. Bottom line...Only go out with Capt James

I have been on a lot of charters around the world and Captain James is definitely a top 3 for me…read more His passion for catching fish shows and his attitude is great. If you have never been fishing in Venice before, I highly recommend you check them out. It is quite the experience down there.

Great place to stay - ver friendly, comfortable and convenient if you're fishing in Venice LA or…read morewant to explore the ecosystem in the lower Mississippi

This place is a hidden gem, and I mean well hidden. :) I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived…read more The place is nice, my room was nice and the people are great! I had a nice long conversation with the owner Dora and she is really such an amazing lady. I'd happily come back and hangout. :) This place reminds me of where I grew up and it really was a pleasure to stay here and to meet such great people. Thanks

When in Venice, there aren't many places to stay, but we ended up at the lighthouse lodge…read more Nothing to write home about and it's been a while since I stayed at a motel that you entire in from the outside of building, but the accommodations were decent. My two critiques are that the AC unit blows right under the window and makes the curtains open up - be mindful when you're in the room! Also, wifi is not available in the room, only in the lobby. I'd stay here again when in the area. We left before breakfast so don't get to comment on that.

Thank you Lighthouse Lodge! We had a great stay. The rooms were very clean, the staff were very…read morefriendly and accommodating. They have a simple array of breakfast foods that will fill you up for your fishing adventure. I will definitely recommend this hotel to those coming to Venice, Louisiana for business or pleasure. Thank you, Sabrina L