Ed Mitchell Outdoors

Fishing a Cinder Worms Hatch? Presentation is Key

Several posts back, I mentioned that the cinder worm hatches here in Southern New England would be getting underway soon. Well, they’re underway. Now if you have never seen or fished a cinder worm hatch be sure to view my earlier post. It has important information about these events, a clear photo of the worms, and some flies as well. Check it out.

Cinder worm hatches are always exciting, but they are not always easy. In fact, they can be downright frustrating with refusal after refusal. Sometimes your fly simply gets lost in the enormous cluster of worms. Sometimes your pattern isn’t quite right. But many times, it is all about your presentation! Yes, presentation is key

Cinder Worm Swarm

Schools of baitfish tend to swim together and often in a single direction. Worms never do that. They move erratically – stretching, contraction, bending, and wiggling as they go. In the above photo there are 7 or 8 worms. Note that each has its own shape and trajectory. Mimicking this is no easy task, especially in areas of no current. For that reason, I suggest you search for any moving water you can locate. Slow retrieves at, or very close, to the surface are usually best. Next, try to watch a fish feed and place you fly in its path. Lastly, make your fly out of soft flexible material. And a surface fly that causes a tiny wake on retrieve is a good bet. Go get them!     Warning: Clinging jellyfish found in salt ponds

Upperman Joe Brooks Popping Bug.

The popper in the photograph below is part of the earliest series of saltwater flies ever created in our country. It was tied by Bill Upperman of Atlantic City, New Jersey to Joe Brooks’ specifications and appeared in Joe’s Salt Water Fly Fishing published in 1950. Joe would use a white version of this same fly to catch his world record 29 pound 6 ounce striped bass out in Coos Bay, Oregon.

The Upperman Joe Brooks Popping Bug rode a 3/0 Z nickel hook, the finest of its time, and is through wired. The painted body is a 1.5″ piece of round balsa wood. The face is flat, and the tail is 3″ of bucktail. The eye is painted on. And check this out! I think there is  a tooth hole from a bluefish under the eye! You got to love it.