Saw birds working out of reach from shore picking away at a worm spawn. They kind of drift in and plop in the water and then pick up the worm. Different than swooping in with speed on fast moving baitfish. Didn't observe any fish splashes.
Thought it kinda early for worms.

When typicaly do the worms hatch?

The worm hatches I'm familiar with coincide with the full not the new moon. Whatever you saw is a good sign though.

Although major spawns occur around the moons etc. All you really need is the bottom, usually shallow mud etc to warm up a few degrees.

You will find spawns year-round if you can locate conditions where you have a shallow bottom, and it receives enough direct to heat that bottom up a few degrees.

ie the schoolies that show up at a popular early season spot in soco, most will have a variety of cinders, clam worms, ribbons, etc in their mouths, these are usually muddier worms as they usually root around for them that early in the spring. As the amount of direct sunlight received on the flats etc is enough to get them moving but not enough to get them to really boogie around the surface like they are more apt to do in june, july, aug. Hope that helps.

During that warm spell last month there was a worm hatch in Warwick cove in my marina.

There are MANY types of worm and each 'gets it on' to their own tune. Some do it in February in 100 ft of water. The primary spawners in RI seem to be temperature dependent. The primary ones in western CT are moon only in June, July and especially August.

I've never heard of a worm spawn. I lived in California and Maryland and now back home in Maine. Been out of the area since the late sixties. What kind of worm is this? The pile worm? It seems to be local to RI and CT inlets. Interesting!

For more information than you'll ever want get a copy of the Peterson field guide to the Atlantic Seashore and look up Errant (Moving/swimming) Polychaetes. As mentioned there are many types with my favorite being the Dumerils clam worm. Most swarms involve reproductive members utilizing external fertilization but the Dumerils have aquired a 'unique' method. Quoting Petersons "The female siezes the male's tail end in jaws injesting sperm through the mouth causing the internal organs of the female (thinned and weakend by entering the reporductive stage) to allow passage through and directly to the eggs, which, now fertilized burst through the body cavity and into the sea. Presumably both male and female die after mating". And you thought being married with kids was tough :devil2:
In addition, the worms actually manufacture a breeding part which 'snaps off' the main worm to go spawn. Imagine the possibilities :shocked:

In addition, the worms actually manufacture a breeding part which 'snaps off' the main worm to go spawn. Imagine the possibilities :shocked:

a little like Duplicity. That's awesome, thanks for the info!