Sal, I definitely agree with your thinking on stocked trout and the reasons they hit big gaudy flies, but I really don't give a darn about stocked trout or how many of them are yanked out of the streams by any means possible. My original post was addressing the issue of whether the early opener was more detrimental to the wild trout populations in SE PA this year because I don't care what anybody thinks, alot more wild trout ended up on stringers in this part of the state during the first couple weeks of the season this year than I've ever seen or heard of in years past. And I can also tell you that other than the Spec. Regs. areas of the streams in this part of the state, the wild trout are far and few between at this time. At least the decent sized ones. There are still a good many sub-legal ones around but not nearly as many adult size fish. And Pennsangler, in your attempt to debunk my theory, you've actually added credence to it. If the reason fly fisherman use big slow moving flies early in the season is because the fish are more lethargic and are looking for a big meal to trigger them, then it only stands to reason that the bait fishermen and spinner guys fishing large offerings, usually weighted down to get on the bottom, such as minnows and nightcrawlers would also be more successful at that time of year.
