Up until this week, the saltwater action had been coming in dribs and drabs, but as happens every season around this time, the bite broke wide open this week. There are at least five feisty saltwater species you can target right now, in addition to still-excellent freshwater fishing. If you’re going fishing this weekend, you’ll want to pack a wide array of tackle in your car.

The big news is, as always, stripers. There was a good flurry in the Cape Cod Canal on Monday and over the weekend, but Mike at M and D’s said by Thursday morning, the Canal had cooled off. The fish that were in the Canal were mainly 28 to 35 inches according to the guys at Red Top. The fish were hitting jigs, swimming plugs and pencil poppers.

But as the Canal action cooled down, Cape Cod Bay and Barnstable Harbor heated up. The word from Chris at Riverview Bait & Tackle was that parts of Cape Cod Bay were loaded with stripers. He and Keith from the Riverview drifted outside Barnstable Harbor, casting soft-plastics and Atom Poppers and had hits on every cast. The fish were all over 30 inches and were fat and full of mackerel. RonZ lures and Got Stryper Pintails were the top soft baits. Chris said some of the fish could be found under diving birds, but many were scattered over a wide area.

Dan at the Hook Up said stripers were popping up everywhere, even along the backside beaches. The rivers and ponds of Nantucket Sound have also had good numbers of schoolies and occasional keeper stripers.

Bluefish arrived in numbers this week as well. Boast drifting Nantucket and Vineyard sound have been connecting with good numbers of big blues. The fish have even come close enough for shore fishermen to catch them. West Dennis Beach has been one of the hotspots according to Chris at Riverview, but the blues have touched down on South Cape Beach as well. Andy Nabreski saw several bluefish and a good-sized striper caught on South Cape Beach Wednesday afternoon.

There have been some big scup in Buzzards Bay, but Mike at M and D’s said ravenous bluefish have been tearing through the schools of porgies and scattering them, creating lulls in the action—unless of course you have some bluefish gear ready.

Black sea bass moving into Vineyard and Nantucket sounds, and Buzzards Bay, in bigger numbers. Fish have been big, as the first schools of sea bass often are, and anglers have caught fish as heavy as 5 to 7 pounds. The folks at Red Top remind us that the sea bass size limit has been raised to 14 inches this year, and the possession limit has dropped to four fish. Nevertheless, four big sea bass provide enough delicious fillets for two or three meals.

Another note on limits, the possession limit for weakfish is one (1) fish. Mike at M and D’s reported a decent number of weakfish caught around Marion and along the South Coast of Buzzards Bay, but noted, some anglers have been keeping multiple fish. The weakfish limit has been set at one to help the weakfish population rebound after declining severely over the past several years. Mike says the weaks have been mostly 20 to 24 inches, but he expects some bigger “tiderunner” weakfish to appear over the next few weeks in some of the South Coast Harbors. Christian at Falmouth Bait and Tackle had also heard of a few weakfish caught on pink swim shads.

Blackfish are still around in Buzzards Bay. Mike said the bite has slowed as the fish spawn, but in a few days, things should perk right back up.

Dan at The Hook Up spent a few days on the freshwater at Peter’s Pond, and while he said the trout fishing was a little slow, the smallmouth fishing filled the void nicely. Many of the smallies fell into the 3 to 4 pound range, and put up a great fight on freshwater gear. Trout are still hitting, but fishing deeper water will be the ticket right now.

Largemouth bass fishing is still very good. Dan caught largemouths on every cast one night this week while fishing shiners under a float. This kind of action can be found at almost any pond right now, and May is the perfect time to do it. As the weather warms and we move into summer, weeds will begin to clog many of the most productive ponds, making bass fishing tough.

Best Bets for the Weekend

We’ll have to break down the best bet by species this week.

Striped Bass: Ride around Cape Cod Bay, specifically outside Barnstable Harbor, and look for mackerel, working birds or breaking fish. Bring a supple of small soft plastics in case the fish are on sand eels or small baitfish, but start out throwing larger plastics or topwater lures.

Bluefish: The South Side of the Cape has some good schools of 5- to 8-pound blues. Poppers and metal lures will work, but minnow plugs seemed to be the hot ticket this week.

Sea Bass and Scup: Buzzards Bay or Nantucket Sound will be your best bets for these species. For bigger specimens, I’d have to give the nod to Cleveland Ledge and the waters nearby, in Buzzards Bay. Make sure you have some striper and bluefish gear rigged and ready, because you never know when a big school of migrating fish is going to move through this time of year.

Freshwater: If you want trout, fishing deep water from a small boat or kayak will be your best bet. But many of the trout ponds also support robust smallmouth bass populations. Fish a trout pond with tube jigs, jerkbaits or shiners for a good shot at catching some smallies. Peters and Mashpee-Wakeby would be two of the top picks, but a visit to the Mass DFW site will provide you with a list of smallmouth ponds.

Fishing shiners in a shallow pond is also a good option for largemouths, but spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and topwaters are working right now as well.