The operators of Leesylvania State Park – the largest tournament launch site on the Virginia side of the Potomac River – recently came up with an illogical policy. Starting this year, from June through September, in order to enter the park on a weekend users will need to make an online reservation at least the day before and pay a $2 “reservation fee” to enter the park. 

The entirety of that fee will go to a software company. None of it will go to improving the park or its facilities. 

This policy applies to those of us who already have annual or lifetime passes. I purchased my lifetime pass a couple of decades ago, as a hedge against rising prices. Indeed, they have risen substantially – it now costs $20 to launch there.

As noted above, the reservation must be made by 11:59pm the night before. So if I wake up on a July Saturday morning and cancel my other plans to go fishing, there’s no option to use my lifetime pass. It doesn’t matter if the park is completely empty. 

As far as I can tell, this was done with minimal or possibly zero input from the regulated public. 

I suppose there was some reason for some sort of policy change. The beach area and the picnicking areas of the park are often overrun in the summertime. Occasionally when I leave in the early afternoon there is a line of vehicles waiting to get in. Nevertheless, I’ve been using the park since 1994 and I think I’ve seen the boating spaces filled up exactly once – back in 2021, when Johnny Morris had a one-day qualifier on the river to earn a spot in his million dollar tournament that fall. 

They appear to be solving problems that don’t necessarily exist and creating new ones. I dread the thought of showing up at 5am on a summer morning and finding a mile-long line as some beleaguered park employee tries to figure out if all of these out of state boats have reservations – and then figuring out a way to turn around the ones who don’t in the very limited space at the gate.

To our credit, the local anglers have taken up a social media campaign and email campaign asking for reconsideration of this policy. So far, we’ve gotten no response.

What has bothered me about our actions, however, is the name-calling. On every post, I can expect to see some angry commenter calling the park officials, the state officials or the policy itself a name that you wouldn’t use in polite company. Sometimes it gets downright vitriolic and personal. 

I understand that people have political views. It’s part of a functioning democracy and constitutional republic. But the name-calling is counterproductive. It doesn’t matter what I think of the governor or what you think of her, but if you start calling her the “B” word or the “R” word or something else, she’s unlikely to end up in your corner. I don’t always believe that you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. Indeed, there is a time to play hardball, but lowering the discourse almost never leads to a positive outcome. It may make you feel better to belittle your “opponent,” but I’d rather save that feeling and get the result I want. 

It’s a problem I see all too often in the bass fishing world. The trout guys get things done. The billfish guys get things done. So do the tarpon and bonefish advocates. We, on the other hand, would rather spew invective and claim that the system is rigged against us. In truth, we have greater numbers than any of those groups. We need to channel our anger and frustration into the most effective route forward.