Barrett requires that anglers get their entry passes via TicketMaster. When you purchase a ticket, you receive a reservation for four anglers, and it includes the use of a 14-foot aluminum boat and motor. Only 100 anglers, on 25 boats, are allowed on the lake each day.

"The shad population is huge, and we expect very good bass fishing in 2007," said Laurie Miller, the assistant lake manager. "People who come to Barrett to bass-fish need to think about the bluegills and crappie here, too. The crappie are huge and there are lots of them."

Bring a float tube or pontoon to fish out of, or bring you own clamp-on electric trolling motor and battery. The boats are solid, but not equipped with the gadgets and amenities you'd expect on a bass boat. So bring all your own gear.

The lake is filled with threadfin shad, so the natural method for catching Barrett bass is to throw shad imitations. Small crankbaits like Shad Raps, Rat-L-Traps or soft-plastic baits like Renosky or Kalin's grubs get hit with enthusiasm.

The smaller size Slug-Go, the new Yamamoto Shad Shape work and similar plastics are also very good. I've had excellent results with several small sizes of soft-plastic swimbaits in shad colors.

Spinnerbaits, especially silver blades with white and/or chartreuse skirts, are deadly. Barrett bass hit blades that are run just under the surface. But if you fish near the dam, try helicoptering a spinnerbait down the face of the dam into 30 or 40 feet of water. Then hang on tight!

If the action slows even a bit, toss a plastic worm in the brush. That's usually a sure cure for boredom.

Topwater artificials are the classic method for Northern-strain fish in the mornings and evenings. Pop-R, Rico, Bill Lewis Slap-Sticks and SpitFire, Heddon's Zara Gossa -- or anything that's shad-sized and either pops, sputters or spits water -- will get busted hard.

Keep an eye open for sudden appearances of shad being attacked by schools of roving largemouths, especially in the early morning and again in the late afternoon and evening. At midday, any kind of soft-plastic is the best bet. Barrett bass tend to like dark shades of blue, black and brown.

If you like bass fishing with a fly rod, you're in luck. Barrett just may be the classic bass fly-fishing lake in California. You get a great combination of low angler numbers, no-wake limits, and a large number of aggressive Northern-strain bass.

As a long-time bass fly angler, I feel confident that a flyfisher can get through a day on Barrett with only a handful of small white streamers that mimic a threadfin shad. A floating line is fine in the morning and evening, but a sink-tip or medium sink-rate line will get more fish during the middle of the day. A 2-inch Lefty's Deceiver in white, or a simple white bucktail fly with large eyes will do just fine.