I find it funny that the same people are claiming that those who would do away with opening day are "selfish" are complaining because it would mean that their little brat would no longer be able to go out on the third Saturday in April and "limit out" by 6:30 AM. Who is really selfish here?
Personally opening day is meaningless. The season is only closed for 7 weeks anyway and I usually don't fish because even spots like the Farmy or Housy that are open are blown out and running cold from melting snow.
Would doing away with opening day improve the fisheries? I don't know, but I have my doubts. However it would do away with the ugly side that so many have pointed out already. What chaps my hide on opening day more than the idiotic behavior is the moronic fools who bash the DEP because they didn't go home with a stringer full of fish on opening day.
If you think it's so important to make it a tradition for your kids to go out and catch a stringer full of pet fish that taste like **** than I have a solution for you:
Do away with opening day. On the bodies of water where it makes sense stock them well in the fall and make the regs catch and release from Oct1-April1. At the same time, identify more ponds/lakes/streams that would not hold trout year round and have easy access and turn them into trout parks. Designate the 3rd Saturday in April as "Kids Fishing Day" and make it a law that on that day the trout parks are for kids only-no adults allowed to fish. Have the DEP trucks roll up on that day at 5:30 AM and dump the fish in. It would give the kids an excellent shot at hooking up without having to experience the buffoonery of the opening day idiots.
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