C inder wo r ms swa r ming the su rfa ce inNo rt h e ast estuaries mean striper feeding frenzies. Ab ove :M ost wo r m - h at ch acti on happens in late af t e r no on or at nigh t .

Striper Secrets for the Northeast’s Spring HatchBY CAPT. JOHN MCMURRAY

9 2 AP R I L 2 008

THE FIRST THING I HEARD AS I NEARED THE LIT-UP BOAT BASIN WA S Adull pop, as if someone stepped on a Styrofoam cup. Immediately afterward,I heard another. As I moved closer, I could see stripers swirling and suckingdown bait throughout the lighted expanse. The water’s surface moved, alive

with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny worms that darted and swam in small,erratic circles beneath the electric lights.

As I observed the odd behavior, a20-pound striper rolled up from beneaththe pier where I stood to gulp downseveral worms right in front of me. Myheart rate skyrocketed and I ran for arod. For two hours, I threw everythingin the box to no avail as the feedingactivity only increased in fero c i t y .

That first experience with cinderw o rms occurred in the early ’90s.Since then, I’ve witnessed about 20such hatches and have unraveledsome of the secrets of thismost intriguing and mysteriousNortheast phenomenon. Whilesome common factors influence ahatch, scientists remain unsure ofthe exact timing and conditionsthat launch one, so knowingwhen and where one willhappen re q u i res some home-work. Then, when you find ahatch, you must somehowfool the frenzied fish.

Hit it right, though, andthis may just be the ultimateexperience in Northeastlight-tackle fishing, andpossibly the only opportu-nity to conquer a 40-inchstriper with a 1-inch fly.

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muddy bottom in the vicinity of thehatch,” notes East Hampton, New Yo r k ,guide Capt. Paul Dixon. All guidesinterviewed recommended estuaries andsalt-marsh habitat as likely hatch locations.

Dixon looks for a tidal outlet. Hebelieves strong currents start the hatch.“It’s a part of the species’ survival tech-nique to distribute the fertilized eggs toother areas nearby that could sustain apopulation,” he says.

Blinken recommends fishing are a swith feeder creeks where the curre n tmoves worms past stripers that set up inthe lees.

I prefer fishing over soft mud bottomand in lighted marinas. In his study, Lillienoted that cinder worms moved towardthe light of his lantern. “Cinders are photo-philic,” says Connecticut fly-fishing teacherMark Sedotti, “so dock lights draw them.”

Experienced anglers acknowledge thatconditions must be perfect for a full-blown hatch to occur. Variables includemoon phase, tide range, weather and wind

conditions, water and air temperature, andc u r rent flow. These variables often don’tcoincide, and each population seems tofollow diff e rent rules. Even if conditions setup just right, predators may not be pre s e n t .

That’s where local knowledge pays off .“ I n t e restingly, I’ve found that small wormhatches can be isolated events within oneestuary system,” Rapone notes. “I’ve hadnights where one cove is chock-full ofstripers slurping worms, while in a nearbycove, bass are popping on silversideswithout a worm in sight.”

Caolo says these peculiar situations“explain why so many hypotheses arec o r rect and at the same time contradictory.”Anglers should visit local tackle shopsw h e re other fishermen network, andsimply gain as much experience and timeon the water as possible during these events.

MOON OR TEMPERATURE?Plenty of evidence suggests that the

moon affects cinder- w o rm hatches. “Theo c c u r rence of swarming is dependentm o re on lunar cycle than any otherf a c t o r,” Lillie wrote. “Each run beginsnear the time of the full moon,i n c reases to a maximum during succes-sive nights and sinks to a low pointabout the time of the third quarter, thenagain rises and falls to extinction shortlyafter the new moon.”

Wo rms may swarm on any nightduring their mating cycles, but mostactivity occurs around the new and fullmoons, Sedotti notes. Many believe thre eto four days before a new or full moonmarks the peak time.

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WORMOLOGYN e reis limbata — called “cinder worm ”

by regional fishermen — is just onespecies among the hundreds that comprisethe N e re i s genus of polychaete (“many-bristled”) worms. Its relatives includethe sandworm (N e reis vire n s) and thecommon clam worm (N e reis succinea) .

Little scientific literature specificallya d d resses N e reis limbata, as it has no foodvalue and re p resents but one menu itemfor marketable fish. Thus, technical publi-cations don’t describe its geographic range.

Anecdotal information suggests thatpopulations capable of producing asubstantial hatch range from ChesapeakeBay to Maine. Most cinder- w o rm hatchesseem to occur between New York andMassachusetts, with Long Island Sound’sestuaries hosting the most pro d u c t i v eevents. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucketa re also hot spots for cinder- w o rm activity.

Cinder worms generally measure 1 to3 inches long, with an off-color head anda pinkish-red body; however, size, shapeand color vary locally.

Alan Caolo, author of Sight-Fishing forStriped Bass, has fished Rhode Islandhatches for well over a decade. “We’ve got[cinder worms] that measure 3 or maybe4 inches in one Rhode Island salt pond. Inanother pond just a few miles away, therea re smaller worms measuring an inch orless,” he says.

The late Long Island guide Capt. BobRobl once explained to me that, onthe north shore of Long Island, re d d i s hc o l o red worms with an off-white ort a n - c o l o red head reside in the NissequogueR i v e r. On Long Island’s North Fork, worm ssport red bodies and orange heads, but justto the south, across Peconic Bay, thew o rms feature dark heads and pinkish bodies.

The variance probably results from thefact that these worms don’t move far, solittle mixing occurs between populations.Such local variations may also account fora lack of consistency regarding the timingof hatches: Each hatch may depend onspecific local conditions.

HATCH DYNAMICS Like all nereids, cinder worms burro w

in the mud for most of their lives. Hatchesonly occur when they leave that safee n v i ronment to spawn.

Spawning worms become easy pre y .And because all the activity happens on thes u rface, anglers can see fish feeding. A goodc i n d e r- w o rm hatch can make any re d - b l o o d e dangler’s heart rate go through the ro o f !

These events come as close to a fre s h -water bug hatch as a saltwater fly-fisher canget, down to the surface frenzy and thed i fficulty in eliciting a strike. Even the term

“hatch” somewhat applies, although “spawn”m o re accurately describes the event.

C i n d e r- w o rm swarms happen inspring in most regions and often occurin the dead of night, although late-a f t e rnoon hatches are fairly common inRhode Island and Martha’s Vi n e y a r d .

Anglers normally observe hatches fro mMay to early July, although the only scien-tific study of N e reis limbata, published byFrank Lillie in 1912, states that swarm stook place at Woods Hole, Massachusetts,f rom June to September. While it may bepossible to observe a spawn later in thes u m m e r, I was unable to find an angler orguide who had witnessed a substantialhatch after July.

In my home waters (Jamaica Bay,New York), the best cinder- w o rmhatches seem to occur in May. Caolo sayslate May to the end of June is prime timefor Rhode Island. Noted eastern LongIsland guide Capt. David Blinken says hisbest chance at finding good cinder- w o rmhatches begins in late May and lasts intoearly July. Anglers on the Connecticutside report similar results, and Martha’sVineyard, Massachusetts, guide Capt. To mRapone says his hatches run from May toJuly as well.

Since cinder worms live in mud,s w a rms generally occur in areas withmud bottoms. “They can happen overhard bottom, but there must be soft

SPAWNING SPECTACLEAs cinder worms emerge from their muddy homes to spawn, they me ta mo r phi z e,

d e v el oping a paddle on their tails and losing all body segme n ts except those that contain sexc ells. They engage in a coordinated mov e ment to the su rface where the tra n sf o rmed worm sswa rm in large conc e n t rations, releasing sperm and eggs in a va st rep r o d u ctive fr e nzy. Af t e rs p a w ning, the adults die and the fertilized eggs eventually drop to the muddy bo ttom wheret h ey grow into a new genera t i o n.

SF I N S I G H T

M ost cinder wo r ms measure 1 to 3 inches; howeve r, some grow la r ge r, su ch as thisone at 4-plus inch e s .

Ab ove: Cinder wo r ms gen e ra l ly feature an off-w hite head and pink body, butch a ra c t e ris tics va ry lo ca l ly. Opposite: Fish the worm hat ch from a boat, or ancho rup and wade with a fly rod or light spin tackle .

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“ You’ll see a few the week before; thenext day there’ll be more and more,” notesDixon. “Then, three days before themoon, there are billions.”

Caolo takes another view, believingthat worm events highly correspond tot e m p e r a t u re. “Some folks say it’ll happena round the full moon in May, but personalexperience tells me that if it’s cold, itwon’t happen,” he says. “It has little todo with moon phase but everything to dow i t h water and sediment temps.”

Caolo reasons that new- and full-moonphases create very high and low tides. The

w o rms may emerge after the sun hasw a rmed the sediment during a lower thanusual low tide. But he also quickly pointsout that a successful spawn re q u i res a certain water temperature. “If you have a daywith high sun and low water because ofthe full-moon phase, [the spawn] may gos t rong for two days. Then, if it gets coldand gray, that will turn it off right away.”

His theory also helps explain whyhatches seem to happen in late afternoon inRhode Island yet in the dead of nightin Connecticut and New York. RhodeIsland ponds lie close to the ocean and

experience rigorous tidal flushing, whichkeeps them cool. As water warms with theheat of the sun — later in the day — risingt e m p e r a t u res potentially trigger a hatch.

Connecticut ponds lie farther from theocean, experience smaller tides and warmvery quickly during the summer. “Sop e rhaps the right set of top and bottomt e m p e r a t u res unfold as the surface watercools in the evening,” he says.

Dixon says that during the early seasonin Long Island’s Peconics, worm hatchesoccur during the afternoon on an out-going tide. As spring pro g resses, thro u g hJune and into July, hatches become night-time events, suggesting the timing maydepend on temperature.

My experience re i n f o rces the temperaturehypothesis: I’ve looked extensively for worm son new and full moons in Jamaica Bay onlyto get skunked. Yet during hot spells andhigh-sun days with medium tides, I’ve expe-rienced giant hatches the following nights.

Two studies in the journal, M a r i n eB i o l o g y, support Caolo’s theory. In 1988,O. F. Müller exposed N e re i s w o rms tod i ff e rent temperatures in a lab. Heinduced maturation and spawning byraising temperatures, emulating the naturalw a rming of spring. In 1987, Frey andLeuckart determined that metamorphosisto spawning stages, as well as swarm i n g ,could be induced by raising temperature sa round the time of the new moon. Abrupti n c reases in temperature caused swarm i n gto occur at diff e rent times of the lunar cycle.

Water temperatures in the upper 50s tomid-60s seem to stimulate the worms inthe Rhode Island area, Caolo says. LongIsland Sound anglers look for water in the60- to 70-degree range.

Wind may also be an inhibiting factor.“The hatch seems to coincide with anys t retch of calm, sunny weather,” Raponesays. Wind shuts down a hatch.

Lillie’s study describes cinder- w o rmmating activity in such a way that suggestscalm conditions must be present. Wa v e sor ripples would disrupt the event: “Whena female appears, she is soon surro u n d e dby several males, which swim rapidly inn a r row circles about her on the surf a c e . ”

CURRENT CONSIDERATIONS“I have not seen a hatch really get going

until about an hour into the out-going tide,” Dixon says. Even in non-tidalsalt ponds, hatches don’t seem to re a l l yerupt until well into the ebb.

Regardless of how current affects thew o rms, water flow definitely helpsanglers. In glassy ponds, bass quickly noteany mistake anglers make trying to imitatethe erratic spawning movements of a3-inch cinder worm .

SF I N S I G H T

CINDER WORMS OF THE SOUTHPalolo worms (Palola viridis) resemble cinder worms, yet they live the bulk of their lives

in ha rd reef instead of soft mud. They ’re found primarily in the Florida Keys, and their springspawn occurs mainly on ocean-s ide flats. Their prime predator: ta r p o n.

Anglers commonly witness as ma ny as a thousand tarpon rolling — as far as the eye cansee — yet they st ruggle to hook one. Many folks say palolo worms act as an aphr o d i s iac andmake tarpon appear dru nk.

S u cce s s ful worm hat ches seem to depend on water and sedim ent temperatures, whichm e a ns some happen in late af t e r no on and others late at nigh t .

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Without current, fish cruise to thew o rms to feed. An angler must note andanticipate the movement of individual fish. When the current flows, “worms are fairlyimmobile in the face of even moderatetidal flow,” Rapone notes. “In such condi-tions, stripers line up at feeding stationslike trout in a stream, to take advantageof the easy meal sweeping by. Stripersholding in a current seem far more likelyto single out individual targets, one ofwhich may be your fly or lure . ”

HATCH MATCH“Like a trico [fly] hatch on a river, [the

c i n d e r- w o rm hatch] starts out slowly andt h e re isn’t that much bait in the water,but as the tide increases, the numberi n c reases. As more fish find these baits,they get tougher to catch,” Dixon says.

Fishing the hatch on days leading upto the peak or on days when the activitybegins to wane can prove morep roductive because the bass find fewerreal worms to eat. On non-peak days, firsttry matching the hatch.

Fly-fishers have an advantage over luref i s h e rmen because flies more re a d i l ymatch the size and weight of the worm s .Still, lure anglers can use inventive optionsthat combine lures and flies. Some optto tie a cinder- w o rm fly several feetbehind a plug. By working the plug veryslowly, they can draw strikes on thetrailing fly.

Some anglers employ a float with ac i n d e r- w o rm fly tied 2 to 3 feet below.

Conventional snapper-bluefish rigs with apopping float work quite well.

The red color of a cinder worm rangesf rom an orange-brown to a re d d i s h - p i n k ,so start by matching the color and size.Popular cinder- w o rm fly patterns curre n t l yon the market include Dixon’s Fire w o rm ,with a marabou tail and short, stout bright-red Lite-Brite body.

I use a simple fly consisting of a 1/0hook, an olive Ice-Chenille head and a2-inch red rabbit-strip tail.

“I’ll almost always tie on a 1- to 3-inchpink bunny fly plucked extremely sparse— nearly to bare rabbit hide,” saysRapone, “It really comes to life once wet.”Use any 1- to 3-inch fly that imparts a lotof movement when stripped very slowly.Cinder worms feature tiny bristles on theirsides, which are constantly moving.

On the third or fourth day of the hatch,when thousands of worms swarm a smalla rea, anglers may need a diff e re n ta p p roach. “There’s often so much bait inthe water, just throwing something biggerwill induce strikes,” Blinken says. “Yo u ’ v egot to somehow set your offering apart.”

I’ve caught some of my best fishduring the peak of the hatch on 4- or even6-inch all-black deceivers. And sometimesmaking a commotion on the surf a c eelicits strikes when the fish won’t touchanything else.

Boston fly-tying legend Jack Gartsidemakes a cinder- w o rm “Gurgler” fly thatc reates a tremendous commotion on thes u rface yet still almost matches the sizeand color of a cinder worm. However,almost any surface fly works; bass don’tappear to be hitting it because they thinkit’s a worm. They seem to hit surface fliesout of pure instinct. Work surf a c eflies very slowly during a cinder- w o rmhatch and pause them occasionally. Often,big bass hit on the pause.

Going big during the peak applies tol u re anglers as well. “I fish the worm hatchwith a 5- to 6-inch walk-the-dog-styleplug, looking for a knee-jerk re a c t i o n , ”Rapone says. “At times, the larger plugpulls large fish out of what appears to bea pile of slurping schoolies.”

Blinken prefers black-over- g o l dfloating plugs like Yo-Zuris or Rapalasand Zara Spooks. Caolo works softplastics such as 6-inch pink Slug-Gos:

“ T h e y ’ re about as deadly as you can get,”he says.

PRESENT ARMS!When worms emerge, they swim to

the surface, where they dart and swim inrapid circles: not an easy activity toimitate. Caolo uses a floating fly line and a7- or 8-weight rod and initially keeps thefly near the surface, making very small,erratic strips. Then, he allows the fly tod rop for a few seconds before making afew more strips to lift it back up.

H o w e v e r, he also recommends experi-menting with diff e rent flies and re t r i e v e s .“One night, they like it one way, and thenext they like it diff e rently,” he says.

Dixon, who does most of his fishingon moving water, recommends dead-drifting the fly with a floating linewhile mending it, keeping just enoughtension to feel the strike. “The key is toc o n t rol the line throughout the drift andto stay as close in touch with the fly aspossible,” he says.

Dixon also recommends lifting the ro dtip so the fly sits on the surface and thentrying to slightly skate it toward you.

L u re anglers must also slow downp resentation during a hatch. Fish justcruise and sip, or hold in the curre n t ,waiting for worms to sweep past.Anything drawn quickly through the waterp robably won’t get touched.

“Fish don’t put out more energy thanthey need to in acquiring prey,” Sedottisays. “That cinder worm can’t get away,thus the bass feeds on it with very littlee n e rgy expenditure . ”

Hits feel like a very gentle tug or tinypause. A bass just stops the fly; anglersmust sense that before the fish spits thebait. “It’s not a booming hit,” Caolo says.“When the fish takes, you’ve got to feel itand just come tight.”

C i n d e r- w o rm hatches are a wonderf u l l ymysterious occurrence. Just witnessing thenatural spectacle of stripers gorging onthese small worms during a hatch can beworth the price of admission. So do yourhomework, put in the effort and get outt h e re at the most likely time to find ahatch. You can’t beat the payoff .

Capt. John McMurray works as director ofgrants programs at New York’s Norc ro s sWildlife Foundation, which has distributedm o re than $20 million in conservationgrants since 1982. He also owns One MoreCast Charters in Jamaica Bay, New Yo r k .He writes regularly for Sport Fishing, SaltWater Sportsman, Fly Fishing in SaltWaters and other fishing and re s o u rc epublications. Contact him at 718-791-2094 or info@nycflyfishing.com.

CINDER-WORMHATCH GUIDES

Capt. David BlinkenE a st e rn Long Island, New Yo r k6 3 1 - 3 2 4 - 2 8 6 0www. n o rt h f l a ts . c o m

Capt. Paul DixonE a st e rn Long Island, New Yo r k6 3 1 - 3 2 9 - 6 1 8 6www. f l yfi s hi n g mo n ta u k.com

Capt. Paul KoopmanS ta mf o rd, Co n n e ct i c u t2 0 3 - 5 6 1 - 9 6 8 3www. sa l tyf l ies.com

Capt. John McMurrayWe st e rn Long Island, New Yo r k7 1 8 - 7 5 7 - 7 3 3 9www. ny cf l yfi s hi n g.com

Capt. Tom RaponeM a rt ha ’s Vi n eya rd, Massa c hu s e tts5 0 8 - 9 2 2 - 1 7 5 4www. hi ghl ymi g ra to ryfi s hi n g. c o m

Capt. Greg SnowBlock Island/Bristol, Rhode Island4 0 1 - 4 3 9 - 0 9 5 3www. sn owf l y c ha rt e r s . c o m

An as s o rt m ent of wo r m - h at ch flies helpsa n g le rs mat ch the hat ch or pr e s ent ano f f e ring that draws reacti on stri k e s .

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