Whoa, Take it easy Mike G.....Unless you consider yourself a selfish eletist fisherman or one of the drunken morons, you should not have felt "called out" by my post.....There's a lot to be said for tradition.....You seem to have a problem w/ trying to preserve tradition...At what point did people actually start to feel this way? Did I actually read the whole post, you say? Did you actually read my whole post? You're not the only one who is "smart enough to know I can fish year round"..."The trout fishery is being sold out" you say? Are you aware that more than half of the people who fish on opening day weekend may not go fishing again the rest of the year? This means that the fees collected for the licenses sold to people who will fish only opening day weekend will do more to help the fisheries than the amount of damage they can do in 1 weekend.....That's my rationale....Opening day doesn't designate when you're allowed to go fishing, it's just the beginning of the stocking season, therefore, the kids , the inexperienced, and people w/ limited access alike have a much better chance of catching fish....Have you ever tried to keep a kid under 10 years old who wasn't catching any fish interested? To be honest, I only fish trophy trout designated waters and am not in the hunt for stockies, so what happens in the more heavily stocked areas is not really of major concern.....If you're willing to do a little hiking, there are miles upon miles of streams & rivers that are not affected in the least bit by the heavy pressure of opening day weekend...I understand that there are other people who must be accommodated who may not necessarily be die hard fishermen and may not be completely in touch w/ their environmental stewardship....I see nothing wrong w/ giving them heavily stocked designated areas and a particular weekend in which to fish them....As I said, I think the damage they do in a weekend, does not equate to the revenues generated from the license fees.....I myself would prefer to educate someone than alienate them by berating them for lack of knowledge.....I think taking opening day away would amount to the same....It seems that nowadays fisherman are more interested in keeping the water to themselves than generating more interest in order to pass down the fishing "tradition".....Not calling you out....Just expressing my point of view......

GAWN FISHIN'