Without the opening day madness, there wouldn't be a very good trout program. All those guys that buy a license for one day, or one weekend, are counted on for those dollars to support the rest of us that fish all year. It a nasty cycle - no opening day, no license dollars from a lot of fisherman, loss of fishing opportunities across the board.
Yeah, I'm not sure I agree with this, and I definitely don't agree that the crowds are good for the fish or the environment. How many times have you gone fishing only to discover discarded beer cans, bait containers, sandwich wrappers, etc., not to mention the slew of discarded cigarette butts on the ground and in the water? No amount of money is going to justify that and I'd wager good money that the people would buy their licenses anyway.
That kind of logic is the same type of logic that keeps us from being able to walk into a store and buy a six pack of beer when we feel like having a few beers instead of forcing us to pay bar prices or buy a case of it from a distributor. The distributors argue that it would kill their business. I argue that they should convert their retail sales into wholesale sales to the stores that sell six packs, or simply retire.
As far as trout season goes, I feel that if it were never closed, people would still go fishing in the spring, but wouldn't feel compelled to wedge themselves into a crowd of "anglers" fishing a few of the good holes on a stream on a particular day, because if they didn't, there'd be no more fish in the stream for them to catch. I think you'd still have some crowds in the spring months, but it wouldn't be mass hysteria on a specific or single day of the year.
I do agree, however, that a continuous open season will never happen in PA, but for God's sake, stop publishing the stocking schedules and locations.