Look out, trout! Opening Day of the fishing season is coming. What you need to know

There’s no polite way to say this: some Rhode Islanders go crackers when it comes to trout fishing.

Authorities who know this won’t go on the record. But they know.

If you’ve ever driven a hatchery truck brimming with fish around the state and noticed in your rearview mirror that you’re being tailed, you know.

If you’ve taken a report in January of a man inching out onto ice barely thick enough to support a tackle box to catch a recently released trout with his new Christmas tip-up rig, you know.

And, of course, if you’re a state game warden familiar with the territorial dustups that have happened on the water’s edge on the second Saturday of each April, you know.

Which brings us to this Saturday, the celebrated Opening Day of trout season. 

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Opening Day of trout season in Rhode Island is something of a misnomer, but be careful who you say that around.

Thousands of Rhode Islanders consider the day a sacred family rite worth the physical pain and endurance sometimes required to catch a memory.

The thinking goes: if my father and his father before him could show up at 4 a.m. to reserve a spot here beside this pond and freeze their noses off, well ... Let’s go, kids!

It does not matter that trout season is actually open year-round except for about five weeks prior to Opening Day.

Those five weeks, however, are vital to a successful Opening Day. That’s when the state presents its bountiful gift on wheels to trout anglers: the spring stocking of 60,000 brown, brook and rainbow trout into more than 100 water bodies. Mixed in among them are the occasional "tiger trout" or Maine salmon to incite the crowds.

It's best not to fool around with any aspect of Opening Day traditions. Ask the Department of Environmental Management.

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In April 2020, when the dangers of the COVID pandemic were new and uncertain, the DEM implemented a social-distancing system designed to thin out the crowds at trout-fishing locations.

The department actually dared to open the season on a Monday, then staggered the days when licensed anglers could fish based on what letter their last names began with.

Anglers got their waders all twisted up in knots.

“We got flamed on social media for not having an Opening Day,” recalls DEM spokesman Michael Healey.

“A lot of people who fish will work their vacations around Opening Day,” says Healey. “They will take a week off to rent the same cabin they always have, or to be the first at the same spot where they have always fished.”

“We’re talking about tens of thousands of anglers out there,” says Healey.

And sometimes there are occasions of “people getting a little riled up if someone gets too close to their perch.”

Fishing on Opening Day “can be very territorial.”

“I know it is shocking to hear, but sometimes some anglers might have an alcoholic beverage to drink, or two, and that might cloud their judgment about propriety.”

The DEM posts online all the ponds, rivers and streams that it stocks. 

What do I need to go fishing on Opening Day in Rhode Island?

Anglers 15 and older need a license to fish. A resident license costs $21. A $5.50 trout conservation stamp is required to keep fish. License fees are listed on DEM's webpage.

It’s a good idea to check the state’s fishing regulations before you go, since many water bodies have their own rules.

The DEM also maintains a Q&A web page that answers every question from up-to-date stocking times and location to what baits are allowed (corn is not.).

What's the deal with those golden rainbow trout?

This year the DEM is again awarding special pins to those lucky anglers who catch a golden rainbow trout, which have been bred to look as if they’ve fallen into a can of lemon-colored paint.

Officials are taking special precautions to make sure they have enough pins this year, Healey says.

They don’t want a repeat of a year or two ago.

“We had to order more pins,” says Healey, “and you would have thought that ... Well, think of the most awful thing you can and multiply that by ten.”

Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI anglers take Opening Day seriously. Here's what you need to know