Mayworms

[J.A. Veil]

I am pasting here some information from Capt Dennis Fleming, a charter captain who fishes in the lower portion of the bay. He put this on Tidalfish yesterday.

"Mayworms - It's that time of year.
Found them in full swing on the eastern shore, millions of them. Marked lots of fish but could not get bit until I found a red jig head with a bit of BKD. Then it was game on. No trophies but plenty of "lesser fish" for my LTJ interest."


Just for clarification, mayworms are a species of marine worm that normally live in the sediment. Once a year, they move up into the water column and spawn all at once. For a few days to weeks, portions of the bay are chock full of these worms and serve as a preferred food source for stripers. During the period when the mayworms are around, stripers are less likely to hit other types of bait or lures as they are gorging on worms.

The presence of mayworms does not explain the tough striper bite in the upper bay over the past few weeks. But if you are fishing in a location that appears to have worms in the water column, try something with red color and a narrow profile.

[baitball]

John,
Never having seem a Mayworm before, I’m curious as to how one would know they are prevalent in any given area?
If worms are traditionally found in the sediment on the sea floor, are they suspended/floating higher in the water column during the spawn?
Sure, if you catch a fish, you could investigate it’s stomach contents, but if the bite is tough, you may not have this option.
Therefore, short of visibly seeing worms floating in the water, are you reliant on collecting bottom sediment and investigating the scooped up sample?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[J.A. Veil]

John,
Never having seem a Mayworm before, I’m curious as to how one would know they are prevalent in any given area?
If worms are traditionally found in the sediment on the sea floor, are they suspended/floating higher in the water column during the spawn?
Sure, if you catch a fish, you could investigate it’s stomach contents, but if the bite is tough, you may not have this option.
Therefore, short of visibly seeing worms floating in the water, are you reliant on collecting bottom sediment and investigating the scooped up sample?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have never witnessed the spawning event personally. I don't know if the worms, which normally live in the sediment, are abundant and visible in the water column during the spawn. The stripers know the worms are there and feast on them. During those times of year, other baits and lures are less attractive.

I fished three times in the Severn over the past week and did not see any evidence of worms in the water column. Checking stomach content or getting word-of-mouth or Internet reports are ways to determine if the mayworm hatch is on.

[baitball]

Thanks John.
It still seems like a Catch22. We are advised to ”match the hatch” but if the worms are not visible to the fisherman sitting on the water how is s/he supposed to glean this information?

[Slobber Bob]

They're plenty visible. You'll see the worms all over the top and throughout the water column. Birds will usually be feeding heavy too. Cinder worms is what I've always know them as.

It might be hard to see in the picture, but they just swim around. You can scoop them up no problem.
P1030803.jpg
P1030799.jpg

[mchottie]

Saw a video recently on facebook, they look similar to blood worms except a LOT more 'active', most floating/zigging/zagging directly at the water surface.

[john from md]

Saw a video recently on facebook, they look similar to blood worms except a LOT more 'active', most floating/zigging/zagging directly at the water surface.

Plus they don't bite like a blood worm.

[Big Mike]

Yak 67 and I encountered two separate hatches last year. There are hundreds of thousands free fish Snicker bars floating in the water when it happens and your tofu burger offering just won’t cut it. We had enjoyable boat rides both times but if I saw them this year I’d probably just slink back on down the road and try a different spot.

[baitball]

Thanks all - that certainly explains things.

[thomaswsu]

I think they are very similar to a “sand worms”. Berkeley sells a similar gulp product