It should have happened weeks ago, but the spring-early summer bite has finally broken out in the waters surrounding Falmouth.  In the past week striped bass — from schoolies to 40-lb cows haave been taken regularly.  The bite was on from Gay Head and Cuttyhunk, along the Elizabeth Islands, through Woods Hole and on to the shoals of Nantucket Sound.

Live scup, jigs and even tube and worm techniques have been working. The bass are also keying on sand eels, which this year have turned up in huge numbers. (Check out the photo gallery for some of the fish that were weighed in this week.)

Most of the past week’s action has been for the boat crowd but beach fishing is slowly turning on.  Small bass and blues have been hitting the beaches most mornings and evenings, with an occasional bigger fish mixed in.  Both plugs and bait are working.

Fluke and sea bass fishing is quite good, although the ratio of legal to sub-legal fish results in many throwbacks.  Lucas Shoal and deepwater holes around Quick’s and Robinson’s are the best bets for keeper fluke. As usual, scup fishing is always a reliable option, particularly for making sure young anglers get some fish.