They’re not here yet but will arrive any day, if not any hour.  “They” being the first of migrating striped bass which, as of this writing (April 23), have to show up in force.  Granted, a handful of anglers have taken school-sized bass from the Cotuit Narrows, Bourne’s Pond in Falmouth and West Falmouth Harbor.  There was even a reliable report of a legal fish being taken from the Cape Cod Canal.

In all likelihood, though, these are fish that spent the winter here hidden in rivers, estuaries and the relatively warm water near the Canal power plant.  Migrating fish, when they arrive, show up in schools of hundreds, if not thousands, of fish.  Schools of that size have hit the West Wall in Rhode Island, so it is really just a matter of days or hours.

Water temperatures are almost perfect, in the low 50’s, and the squid have started to migrate up Vineyard Sound into Nantucket Sound.  The herring run (river herring still are protected) is not great but decent and should have bass hanging around the runs.  Tautog are also showing up in lobster traps which means they are moving into in-shore rockpiles and reefs.

While waiting for the striped bass, anglers have had a very good spring trout season.  The state continues to stock Cape ponds with brown, rainbow, tiger and brook trout.  Twenty-inch fish are quite common.

With pond temperatures rising, bass fishing is turning very hot, either with artificial baits or shiners.

So if you’ve been waiting to break out your equipment, now’s the time.