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Most everyone goes there for the almighty redfish, a swimming, eating machine that prowls the brackish, shallow water of much of the Mississippi Delta. There are day trips, but for people who are serious, or want to pretend they are, boats take an overnight run out to the Cajun Chalet, a fishing camp 18 miles down Bayou Barataria. On our trip, Captain Theophile and Capt. Chris Pike, 24, one of the Bourgeois skippers who at age 17 became the youngest captain out on the bayou, took four fisherman in two boats out into the vastness of the swamp.
Some of us were open-mouthed as we raced along through hairpin turns on two feet of water at 40 miles an hour in two 24-foot boots with big, angry 225-horsepower Mercurys at the back. The heat receded as we whizzed through a landscape of working and abandoned oil rigs, cypress trees in various states of entropy and seemingly endless hidden throughways and open cuts, a maze that throbs with wildlife and no small amount of mystery.
Some of us were open-mouthed as we raced along through hairpin turns on two feet of water at 40 miles an hour in two 24-foot boots with big, angry 225-horsepower Mercurys at the back. The heat receded as we whizzed through a landscape of working and abandoned oil rigs, cypress trees in various states of entropy and seemingly endless hidden throughways and open cuts, a maze that throbs with wildlife and no small amount of mystery.
Bayou
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Bourgeois Fishing Charters (504-341-5614; http://neworleansfishing.com) offers day trips for fishing. ($475 for two people and $75 for each additional person up to four). Fishing, lodging and meals are available at the Cajun Vista ($375), and there are also fishing-lodging packages for the Cajun Chalet, 18 miles away. Other guides in the area include Papa Joe (504-689-3728; www.fishneworleans.com) and Mike Daigle (504-915-9480; www.castitcharters.com).
Packages are generally all-inclusive with bait, tackle, light food and soft drinks. Bring your own beer if you are so inclined, and remember sunscreen and hats. Guests are expected to tip captains after a good day on the water.
People who want to see waterfowl and gators up close but have no interest in actually fishing can take one of the many swamp tours in the area, including Jean Lafitte Swamp and Airboat (504-587-1719; www.jeanlafitteswamptour.com). The two-hour tours ($24 by boat or $49 by airboat), include all manner of swamp critters and a tutorial on the Cajun culture.
And if you would rather take in the splendors of the bayou from the sanctity of a wicker chair on a dock, try the Victoria Inn & Gardens (4707 Jean Lefitte Boulevard, Lafitte; 800-689-4797; www.victoriainn.com), a B & B with 14 rooms ($127 to $250), a restaurant, a pool and paddle boats.
Packages are generally all-inclusive with bait, tackle, light food and soft drinks. Bring your own beer if you are so inclined, and remember sunscreen and hats. Guests are expected to tip captains after a good day on the water.
People who want to see waterfowl and gators up close but have no interest in actually fishing can take one of the many swamp tours in the area, including Jean Lafitte Swamp and Airboat (504-587-1719; www.jeanlafitteswamptour.com). The two-hour tours ($24 by boat or $49 by airboat), include all manner of swamp critters and a tutorial on the Cajun culture.
And if you would rather take in the splendors of the bayou from the sanctity of a wicker chair on a dock, try the Victoria Inn & Gardens (4707 Jean Lefitte Boulevard, Lafitte; 800-689-4797; www.victoriainn.com), a B & B with 14 rooms ($127 to $250), a restaurant, a pool and paddle boats.
