Each year I buy a freshwater license to support the tradition and to cover me if I have to follow fish from the salt to the fresh. I fish for trout one day a year..Opening day...because its a tradition. I get up early, drag my son to the fisherman's breakfast while he's still asleep, get out the flashlight and find our way to that "secret hole". We wait anxiously for the start, catch our fish, and an hour later are ready to go home. Momma can't understand the ritual. the next day the banks are barren and trodden by careless fishermen. Lines and lures hang from the trees, and the fish are suddenly either gone or much wiser.
Mike, you have some nice fishable waters in your area that we don't have. And, you have the chance to catch trout for extended periods. We envy you.
My suggestions:
Keep opening day, its a tradition.
Stock the lakes and streams with fish that will survive. Younsters like to catch fish, me too, but stocking trout in warm water streams makes no sense. There are other fish to stock and catch besides trout, and they could provide holdover fishing. Smallmouth, largemouth, catfish, etc., will put as big a smile on a kids face as any trout and can survive longer. The same is true of hunting. Do we always need to stock pheasants for the foxes, or would a grouse or two be a better answer depending on the habitat.
The other day there was an article in the Courant about PETA asking them to delete their fishing column. It was a good article and done with tongue in cheek. The only thing out of whack is the Courant doesn't run a fishing column. Unfortunately thats where we are now. Coverage of opening day fishing or hunting is a rarity as we often don't want to upset people who can't understand the beauty there is in these traditions. I would like to be able to go out all year, and would hope the state supports my interests, but I don't think thats going to happen unless there is a serious cultural and economic change. In the meantime, I'll make sure to buy my son whatever he needs to take his son/daughters fishing on opening day, and if he can't make it I will take them myself.