My first experience with Grapevine was not a good one! I launched at Dove Loop this morning but there weren't any envelopes to use to pay the launch fee. So instead, I used an envelope I had in my truck and recorded my name, address, vehicle info and put the money inside. I dropped it in the fee box and went on my way.

When I get back to my vehicle to load the boat, I have an $85 ticket on the window for failure to pay the launch fee. You've got to be kidding me!! Based on the instructions I found on their website, I have to appear in person to provide a not guilty plea and then appear again in front of a judge. That's a lot of my time to waste to try and fix their screw up!

Has this happened to anyone else??

I got one at Ray Roberts, I called with the stub number and they dismissed it on the phone.

There is a long history with Grapevine ramp issues.

It could have been thieves stealing from the box. I caught two guys once trying to steal envelopes from the Ray Roberts metal boxes at the Pond Creek access. The wind was howling in my direction so they didn't hear me approach the ramp in my boat. I docked the boat and walked up the ramp and saw these two guys both doing something to the lockbox. Turns out they were trying to pull out envelopes. They had some kind of stick/wire device. Once they saw me they took off to their car. I took a camera phone pic of car and the losers as they sped by and went to the Isle Dubois station to report the theft. The pic didn't get the tag and all I could do was describe the scene to the park people.

I was there yesterday morning as well. Got there about 8 am and noticed the parking area was pretty full and also there were no envelopes available to pay. Told my son just wait till we get back because I guarantee they will be writing tickets regardless. We went out and came back around 11:30. When we arrived, a Grapevine policeman had just pulled up and parked next to the trash dumpster and was walking to the box where the envelopes are located. He then proceeded to start writing tickets and placing them on the vehicles. He was rather busy, going almost truck to truck so there were a LOT of individuals who got tickets yesterday morning. Oddly enough, as I was putting the straps on my boat, I walked to the pay box and sure enough, he had refilled the envelope containers but obviously long after many folks had already launched without a method to pay.

You can get the ticket dismissed by buying the $75 annual boat permit. You just need to tell them what you are doing when you buy the permit.

organized crime......Frickin crooks......

A phone call should clear things up.

Good luck with the whole going to court thing... I tried it and was all but laughed out of the courtroom by the judge. He wouldn't even look at the pictures I took proving I was correct.

You can buy a year pass for less than the ticket and they will dismiss said ticket and the restof the year you dont have to pay a launch fee.

I understand about buying the yearly pass but it's still $75 and unless you utilize the ramps there at least 15 times during the year, you are overpaying. Granted, if a person is just trying to get by without paying the fee then they should be ticketed, I have no issues with that at all. My problem with this is how many times folks have been ticketed when they should not have been or in the case of this past Sun, there weren't even any envelopes available to use. What's a person to do? I don't carry empty envelopes in my truck. I was just lucky I was leaving as the officer arrived so I missed getting a ticket by about 5 minutes. I always pay and don't have any problem doing so but when there isn't an envelope available, what other options do you have other than trying another ramp?

You cannot win with the situation they give you.......either grab an envelope and pay or go to another ramp with envelopes. Otherwise, you get a ticket. Organized crime....

I wonder if anybody has ever went and grabbed all the envelopes before a bass tourney launch?

Sorry to hear about the bad experience.
After reading this post the next time I have to
pay to launch a boat I will grab an extra one or two
of the envelopes that they want you to use
and store them in my glove compartment.

since you did pay I am hoping that they will tear up the
citation

I've seen it happen at the state park ramp at Falcon many times, but they handle it in a much better way. They leave a note basically saying to stop on the way out and pay or else this warning will become an actual ticket.

Sounds like GV has devised a great way to get folks to buy that yearly pass!