I'm not a biologist, so I'm not even going to try to identify all of these varieties, but in his book, A Fly-Fisher's Guide to Saltwater Naturals and their Imitations, George V. Roberts, Jr. classifies them as the genus Nereis . Whether or not cinderworm is an actual species or simply a nickname still escapes me. If anyone has a definitive answer, please let me know. For most fly rodders, it's enough to know that the worms are there and when they are, striped bass usually aren't far away. A worm swarm to a school of stripers is like a Free Lunch sign to a high school football team.
Stripers gather at the mouth of an estuary or any outflow where worms are active and start to binge.
The worms are fairly easy pickin's as they are swept along by the outgoing tide, but they are not at the total mercy of the current. Part of the spawning transformation is the growth of paddle-like appendages, again along the rear of the worm. It helps to help propel them toward the surface, so they're actually coming at us tail first in an effort to create more worms. Though the worms may appear to be trapped in a current, they are actually wiggling their way up and your presentation should try to duplicate this movement. The stripers are feeding on the surface.