There is no way, foes said, that you can wash your soul in riffles sparkling in the sun when the hip boots of other fishermen are planted in every puddle within sight. So opening day was abandoned, and trout fishing in 1996 became a never-ending, everlasting affair, a time when you can scratch the itch to fish whenever it occurs. Fish officials will tell you it has worked, and they get plenty of support from anglers who say the year-round season has resulted in a higher quality trout fishing experience. The last official survey in 1993 showed 75 per cent of the trout anglers favored a year-round season. A new survey is scheduled this spring.
Some foes appear to have voted with their pocketbook.
Sales of trout licenses have declined 10 percent, but Mohn isn't certain how much of that can be credited to the year-round season. Other changes in trout regulations were made about the same time, he said. In an effort to give a taste of opening day tradition to the unhappy, and perhaps the non-angling public, the DGIF has initiated what it is calling Trout Heritage Day on Saturday, April 7. The fishing will begin at 5 a.m., which is the normal daily starting hour for trout angling. In reality, the season won't be closed.