Very typical governmental bureaucracy, one not knowing what the other is doing!

I launched out of Isle, Sanger and Pond, just hung my park pass on the mirror and no issue. Several around me had notes on their windows. I haven't had a problem all year.

Why can't they put a card scanner (so you can scan your pass) on a pole as you drive into these parks? This is getting to be like the high school job at the local fast food joint where they count the cups on each shift to make sure someone isn't stealing a soda.... next they will decide to up the rates on the passes to pay for all the added leg work it's gonna take to process all the pass holders as if they were the regular public.

That happened to me last year. Ended up having to circle the whole lake to put in.

Man, what a load of BS.. not much point in having a pass if you have to fill out more paperwork.. other lakes don't make you do this. Seems like whoever is in charge up there doesn't know what to do about all the boats since the slot dropped.. just don't understand why they would make it harder on the fishermen, seems counter productive. If they want to catch people not paying, they need to walk the parking lot and take care of it.. more paperwork isn't going to fix anything.

My 2 cents - i went yesterday and had to go in and get the new pass which is basically a credit card but from my understanding here is how the process will work going forward. You drive up hand them your pass they notate how many people are in the car with you and print you at ticket for the window. keep on driving thru with no added inconvienance. You have to go in the first time to get the new pass but after that its business as usual other than the print reciept they give you for your window. also note that they told me when they swipe your new pass in thier machine your drivers license picture come up. so you see the added benifits to them. num of people in park per day, picture of person trying to use pass etc

Why was this issue not mentioned by TPWD during any of the "remove the slot" meetings.
They need to issue barcode reader tags similar to toll tags to keep up with any trend history of who and where as far as the ramp usuage goes.
How hard would that be

They are doing this at parks across the state - not just Ray Bob - it's been on the books apparently since the new computer system was put in (along with new online reservation system) a few weeks ago.

I have no problem with handing someone my card from the comfort of my vehicle but there has to be someone at the park for that to be a possibility (arriving before they open is probably common for the fishing crowds)

There is never anybody at Jordan or Buck. You will have to fill out a piece of paper, walk up there put it in the box and then stick the other to your windshield. Giant pain in the [censored].

yep ...they sre doing it here at our state park..problem here is,, the scanner never works..sit at window while the lady tries for 15 minutes to get it to work..Finally get you printed 'pass" and its says "default" unknown number...so it really tells them nothing..

It will be the first time I get a ticket for failure to fill out proper paper work. Unless they start setting their alarm clocks a little earlier.

Everybody should voice their opinions on the bottom of the yellow copy that you have to put in the box. Somebody has to at least look at them when they get them out of box.

So just how are they going to handle this at launch sites other than the State park and Johnson? The other launches don't have attendants. I don't mind filling out the form and putting the copy on my dash.

You have to put a copy on your windshield and one in the box. It is just like not having a park pass only you don't put money in the box. They told my brother that he didn't need to fill out all the info, just a few things like your plate #, number of people, date and the number on the new card they give you.

My guess they are going to go up on the cost of the passes next year and are surveying to see how much.

considering all this extra value they are providing(writing practice and a little warm-up walk before fishing) they deserve a raise. it takes real brains to figure out these schemes. no note yesterday at buck for me. if it comes to it, i'll take a handful of envelopes and prefill them out. i'm sure that'll give them another reason to raise the fee, to pay for all the envelopes they'll have to buy.