A childrens opening day would be great !

Here is what the opening day tradition taught me from the time I was 3 until I was 12 :

It is a badge of honor to catch and kill as many trout as possable.It is even okay to limit out numerous times in a day as long as you do not keep going back to the same spot.Bragging rights are the trophy to the one whpo catches the most.

It's okay to let these trout rot in the freezer only to be thrown out 6 months later to make room in the freezer.

It is okay to crowd,elbow into a spot,it is the only way your going to be able to catch fish.

It is okay to "celabrate" opening day by getting drunk and making an a$$ of yourself.


It's okay to be rude and dissrespectfull to other anglers,almost expected.


You can always count on seeing a fight or two and it is acceptable on this one day a year.

It is okay to just bag up your trash and leave it on the bank or in the parking area ,someone else will take it away.

Luckily for me I seen the errors in the way I was taught to celebrate opening day.

I was turned off by the whole opening day/fishing thing when I was about 12.Opening day is not important to me,good sportmanship is.

Getting rid of opening day is not about people being selfish and wanting more fish for themselves ,it is just the oppisite.

It is about getting rid of all the non-sense associated with opening day(drunks,poachers,trash,over crowding),it is about making the best use of a limitied resource and spreading it out more through out the year.

I have not even fished for trout yet this season ,nor do I plan to in the near future.I will wait a month or so until all the yahoo's have given up and put there gear away until next year.