2026 Barrett poll/ideas?

[TommyP]

I had a great meeting with the City yesterday. A lot was discussed. Understand that the program at Barrett is truly unique to both hunters and fisherman. They want our input on what we like or dislike about it. The poll below is a question that was asked to me. After thinking about it I thought input from the Junkies is best. As was pointed out we have plenty of time to react. I brought up the topic of Ticketmaster. The City is building its own platform to sell reservations/tickets for ALL the lakes, and to remove the iron rangers(and Ticketmaster). This idea is a good one I think, but it will take time. They are also going to purchase all new 16' boats for Barrett. And yes I requested that they scrape the road(maybe more on a regular basis).
The poll question is:
Would we like the season tickets ALL sold in April? Yes there will be limits as to what can be sold to individuals, lots of details to be worked out.

Yes

No

TommyP

[JWall]

Yes but maybe with a bit more detail? Thanks as always!!

[DarkShadow]

The poll question is:
Would we like the season tickets ALL sold in April? Yes there will be limits as to what can be sold to individuals, lots of details to be worked out.

Yes

No

TommyP

Imagine the poor server crashing in April when ALL tickets are sold at once.



Im curious how the limit is going to work. Imagine if you are limited to one time a year per credit card number.

[Gotfish?]

I had a great meeting with the City yesterday. A lot was discussed. Understand that the program at Barrett is truly unique to both hunters and fisherman. They want our input on what we like or dislike about it. The poll below is a question that was asked to me. After thinking about it I thought input from the Junkies is best. As was pointed out we have plenty of time to react. I brought up the topic of Ticketmaster. The City is building its own platform to sell reservations/tickets for ALL the lakes, and to remove the iron rangers(and Ticketmaster). This idea is a good one I think, but it will take time. They are also going to purchase all new 16' boats for Barrett. And yes I requested that they scrape the road(maybe more on a regular basis).
The poll question is:
Would we like the season tickets ALL sold in April? Yes there will be limits as to what can be sold to individuals, lots of details to be worked out.

Yes

No

TommyP

What do you mean by "Would we like the season tickets ALL sold in April"? Do you mean sell all the tickets for May-September in April?

[Pourboy]

Thanks for thinking of all of us. As for the whole season in April, I don't think so. I like the month to month. Planning that far ahead can be challenging and I can see at least May and June selling out in a moment. Speaking for myself I don't always know what my work/life schedule will be that far ahead.

[DarkShadow]

Do you mean sell all the tickets for May-September in April?

That's how I read it as.

They should just have a royal rumble. Winners get the best dates. Eliminates the Ticketmaster surcharges.

[Matthew]

No, I prefer the monthly option. That makes it easier to plan for me.

[Dfishin]

No! Should be Monthly. How much will this raise the prices, when they get there hands on it?

All lakes? You mean I can't decide to go fishing tomorrow because I did not buy a ticket the beginning of the month?

[Gotfish?]

Ticketmaster approach is a good approach, just way over priced. There are lots of alternatives to Ticketmaster including software packages so a third party is not even needed.

[MistrRocko]

Selling the season tickets all at once is not the way to go. Monthly works just fine and so does Ticketmaster. Absolutely no reason to fix what isn't broken.

Barrett pros and cons:

Pros:
The best bass fishing lake in the world for numbers.

Cons:
The price. $185 for one person to fish in a puddle is nuts, no matter how good the fishing is.

The road is a disaster.

[JayB1rd79]

I definitely prefer the monthly ticket slots. Its a lot harder to plan a 1 day fishing trip 5 months in advance. I mean I guess you could always sell if it something couldn't work out. Not to mention I kind of like seeing how the season goes along before buying tickets. You guys remember 2018? Man that was rough year at B. It finally fired up later in the year and it was epic because it was on the downlow (for a little while at least). I Remember hearing about opening day and all the blanks that were reported.

[Moose]

Echoing what some have already said, I think selling all the tickets in April would eliminate the opportunity for a lot of people to fish the lake. Not a lot of people are able to plan far enough ahead with family, work, etc. The month to month seems to be the best way to distribute the tickets.

[elpescador44]

Month to month is best. Hope they can move those orange dam floats in about 100 ft (no need to be that far out). Ask Border Patrol to put a tire drag that can be pulled behind a pickup to help smooth the road in between road graded usage. A barrett regular can slow drag it behind his pickup on the way out to help smooth the road. (BP has lots of them)

[BeatTheSkunk]

DEFINITELY month to month. This allows greater flexibility, planning, and opportunity for people to secure tickets despite missing out on tix from a month that sells out.

This is the only question you mentioned from the poll, but given that some are chiming in with other observations/requests:

1. I second the opinion of @JWall if by his request for "greater detail" he means the ability to clearly select dates and view if that date is already sold out BEFORE clicking on it/clearly displaying if it is a boat ticket or shore ticket BEFORE you click on it.

2. I vaguely recall a post from last year, I am guessing that it was either from @DarkShadow or @camobass (apologies if I am mistaken on the correct identity, so feel free to set the record straight) but this person cautioned against lodging complaints about, what at the time was related to the rental boats being too hot and burning people from their raw metal surfaces and/or lack of seats, in addition to the "poor" condition of the road.

This person warned that if you start claiming that a change is so necessary that if left unaddressed, it would constitute a potential liability to the city, this may result in some unintended consequences. I cannot personally verify that claim one way or another, but it stuck in my head and made sense that if many people start to complain that road is too dangerous, at some point they may look at the cost of maintaining it alongside the cost of potential liability/lawsuits, and they could plausibly decide to just shut the thing down instead. It seemed like a good point to me, but if anyone has further thoughts or insight into this thesis, please share.

Editorial Sidenote (aka: Opinions and A-holes, I know, I know):
I really don't understand why people complain about the road. I drive the lamest, no-suspension soccer mom mini-van out there all the time, and NEVER have even the slightest of issues. And I feel like almost every other car I see parked is a truck/suv or something infinitely capable of handling that road.

Is the issue that you want to sip coffee with no lid er something? Hemorrhoids?? (I'm kidding...but seriously )

[camobass]

I don’t recall if it was me, but I agree, complaining can draw the wrong attention. It’s a common thing when living out here in the sticks, all the flat landers want to do away with the dirt roads. Then the driving just gets faster and faster, leading to more problems

[JWall]

There is definitely a point where too much complaining about road, cost, boats, ticketmaster, etc could cause those in charge that are ignorant to the beauty and privilege of Barrett to shut it down. In the grand scheme of things, there are not enough of us to matter. Having said that, I’ve watched that road nearly turn my buddy’s dash into a vibrating pile of nuts and bolts. We just slow down and let the more able pass on by. But is it really that hard to drag it a few times a year?

[camobass]

Get a decent portable pump and air down. 15-20 psi. I avoid the washboard in trade for a red neck car wash with the grass and brush going down the side of my vehicle. I agree it gets bad. You can avoid a lot of it but people have fish on the brain and aren’t focused on missing the woops.

[JWall]

Get a decent portable pump and air down. 15-20 psi. I avoid the washboard in trade for a red neck car wash with the grass and brush going down the side of my vehicle. I agree it gets bad. You can avoid a lot of it but people have fish on the brain and aren’t focused on missing the woops.

Lol I put in as many miles going side to side finding the sweet spot as the road itself. Airing down is definitely the call. Similar on soft sand beaches. Dug ourselves out of many a hole on surf trips.

[TommyP]

A few observations from the above comments:

The City realizes what a cash cow Barrett(like SV) is. I just wish the $$ stayed with Barrett or the other lakes, but it all goes into the General Fund. Other mouths are bigger than the City Lakes(programs). I don't think they would ever screw with the recreational privileges afforded to the lakes.

There are environmental issues with respect to scrapping the road, it can only be done certain times of the year. My point was that they know that and just schedule the scrapping, not wait to there are so many complaints. They are now asking to pay some pretty hefty fees to use the facility......yes the "flatlanders" bitch.

Monthly is the way to go selling the tickets it looks like, I agree. The City is working on(and has been working on) a platform to sell the reservations/tickets. Stay tuned.

Ps Stunning Day out there yesterday.....I think by the early aftn we had the lake to ourselves.....lost a few nice uns......

TommyP

[camobass]

I absolutely do not understand any environmental impacts on grading the road. I have lived on a dirt road my whole life. Grading it at different times of years does not impact the environment. Like others have said, a tire or fence drag would work well. I’m sure the main reason is the people who live there and use that road don’t mind. Especially the fact it mostly slows down the traffic. Smoother roads equals faster people and potential head ons. It’s a two way road…