T
he eight
year
wait is
finally over! San Vicente
Lake is operated
by the City of San
Diego. City offi-
cials closed Vin-
cente in 2008 in
order to raise the
old dam approxi-
mately 117 vertical
feet. The new dam
was completed in
July of 2014; but it took an additional two years to re-
A worm fish for Rick Grover
open the lake to the
public, as construction continued on the marina and
concession stands.
San Vicente Reservoir in Eastern San Diego
County finally reopened to boating and fishing on
September 22, , 2016
TICKET SCALPING TO FISH???
The demand to fish the lake was so high that
lake operators opted to partner with online retailer
Ticketmaster to offer fishing and boating permits to
the public. Tickets were made available for purchase
on August 25 th .
Lake operators released the first
Kyle Grover with a jig fish
week of public
access to the lake
for September
22 nd through the
26 th .
The grand
reopening of the
lake was met
with so much
excitement and
fanfare that
tickets sold out
for the entire
first week
within the initial
couple of
minutes.
Anglers
wishing
to take
advantage
of the
opportunity
to fish a virgin
lake were met
with great
Rick with a seven pounder
disappointment as the realities
of capitalism
emerged into the
ticket purchase
process.
Lake operators
failed to account for the
likelihood that some
would take advantage of the process by purchasing
multiple tickets and days at one time. Meaning that
there was no limit on the number of tickets that could
be purchased at once by any given individual.
It only took moments for tickets to start showing
up on EBay and local fishing chatrooms. Some people
were offering to sell tickets to fish the lake during
opening week for $100-$200 per ticket.
Mind you that the actual face value of the tickets
ranged from $7 to $17, depending on public launch or
shore fishing access. Talk about a money grab!
Moreover, lake operators partnering with
Ticketmaster resulted in a significant amount of fees
added to the $7 ticket
price. The total cost
of $28 to purchase
a $7 launch pass
was simply crazy!
That amounts to
approximately
$21 in fees and
shipping cost on
a $7 launch pass.
Many hope that
the partnership
with Ticketmaster
will end, once the
excitement over
fishing the lake
subsides.
WINTER 2017
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