Just found this, would like to add my two cents on the issue.

Please consider that this comes from a life long CT resident who has now moved to mass.

I feel that opening day is a tradition, that which is like opening day of baseball season, NCAA tourney, local annual parades, etc etc.

Having now lived in MA for the last 2 years, I have no idea what is open, what is not, when, where, why, the how I know.

What I mean is that MA fishing is something left to be desired. If you have not really fished here, you won't understand. The DEP fishing reg is awesome, compared to MA. At least our reg tells folks where to fish, in the general vicinity. In mass, they tell you what rivers are stocked, but its your guess to figure out which section of a 300 mile river that has fish in it. The CT reg at least gets you in a 20 mile stretch, with some leg work and invested time, one can find out where the fishing is. People say, Pete (because thats my name lol), why don't you look around the rivers and see where people are fishing. I have and stopped in those spots and asked and fished along side them and nadda. I have gone to sections that have had 10+ people, no one catching fish in the first week of May after the MA DEP has said they stocked areas I am standing in.

The standing water areas, ponds and lakes are great around here, if you have a boat and like to fish from shore, its just not my cup of tea. Having seen rivers and streams like the Farmington, Salmon, Choginchaug (sp) and Quinny, I would rather fish them before wasting my time on the MA rivers. I guess the point I am trying to make is that the program up here is not so great as one would think.

If you could show me the economic impact was so great that change would be justified, I would accept that. But in the mean time, don't mess with tradition.