If this is your first time clamming, or your a tenured clammer there is something here for you, how to find, dig, clean, and cook clams, even a book and cookbook on my site www.razorclamming.com.
i know this video is over 10 years old, but i need to correct ken about how to orient your clam gun when placing over a clam show. you never place your back to the ocean- you should face the ocean and place your clam gun over the show and tilt the handle of your gun towards you at about a 5-10 degree angle and then shimmy it into the sand. here is the instruction from a ODFW expert ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ski_BIQmemE.htmlsi=R70gFG_kK07CxZyd&t=118
When I'm camping, it's less prep work to just slice them out of the shell, rather than blanching and cooling in ice. Use a very sharp knife w flexible blade, like a small fillet knife. Great video!! The way you cut out the stomach/guts was new to me..
Hi David, are you sure you are talking about pacific west coast razor clams? I know it is very common especially in the far east for many varieties of clams. I have eaten Jackknife Razor Clams whole uncleaned (its an east coast razor clam which is like a tube, not like a west coast razor clam)? Just curious? I've had one other person over the years who said he does this, but I never asked him any questions about where he got his clams. Would like to know?
Sunset Beach near Fort Stevens is so easy to get big clams by the size of the hole show. Don't waste your time with Seaside or Gearhart. I like even tides because the gun cuts like butter.
Just a heads-up for anyone who wants to skin their gaper necks easy. Freeze the necks with the skins on for 24 hours. Thaw out, and the skin comes off like a banana peel. I can skin 12 necks in under 2 minutes. Skin comes off completely whole. Blanching partially cooks your necks, and they are still kind of a pain to skin, as you can tell from this video. Freezing for a short period of time effects the quality of the necks way less than blanching, which actually pre-cooks them making them more rubbery in the end. Hope this helps someone. I came across this discovery on my own by accident and has made harvesting horse clams, empires, horse-necks, blues, gapers, or whatever you want to call them, way more fun!
I realize you slowed it down to demonstrate the method, but I clean them extremely fast in case they feel pain, and I don't see any point in keeping them whole. Usually the digger is dipped in egg and cracker crumbs or flour and fried quickly. They are very tender, and the body part, which is tough if fried, is ground up for chowder. Every time I've had clam strips in restaurants they are like chewing on rubber bands because they are evidently using the body and not the diggers.
Ken, if a person wants to razor clam three or four days in a row how do you handle the in possession aspect of the rules? Can you clean and store two days limit and get a third day of clamming? Thank you, great video
Clean and store everyday and your good to go! I like to get 100 or more for the freezer! If you do not clean your clams it's easy to tell if they are one, two, or three days old. I generally clean the same day but if you leave them in the refrigerator overnight (on a wet towel, dry, with lots of available air) your clams should still be alive the next morning. Hit them with your finger and if they move they are alive. At three days many will be dead (and I toss 24 hours old dead clams). So sometimes I clean them after 24 hours. Never 48 hours or more! I do know if you work at it, rubber band the clams shell together like when its in the sand, it's possible to keep them alive longer, but seems like less work to just clean them.
Hi Combo Blue, I've tried everything including five days with oxygen and temperature controls, still some sand. So we manually clean them and use for Clams Casino, Spaghetti, Linguine, etc.. But steamers are not good with sand? Let me know if you here of a way to do this!
If any of you enjoy Flavour!! Don't listen to this. I just shuck them and wash the sand off and fry them whole. AWESOME. the guts have all the flavour. Maybe I'm a walrus but hey and along with the French, that's how I like them.
Hey Scott, I've never known anyone to do this with Pacific Ocean Razors? Are you talking about the east coast Razors sometimes called Jackknife clams. They are tubular and have less guts. If you are doing this with Pacific Clams are you purging them first? If so, I might do some research on biotoxins in their stomachs to make sure it is safe first. Maybe, even do an experiment and give it a try? Happy Clamming! And thanks for the comment.
@@razorclamming Nope, I'm talking Washington USA clams. I'm going to try cleaning them a bit this time thou. Just to take out the lungs and poop. I'll leave the tummy in thou. It's like lobster. Many people like the tummy guts in Lobster as sauce also. And dungenous crabs also.
@@scotyfilms Interesting Scott, thanks for your replay. Razor clams purge better the some clams like Purple Varnish Clams which wont purge even after five days of purging. I've eaten Crab livers (lobster too) and found them to be tasty, also the crab soup, that after cooking falls into the crabs back when you pull it off, it is really good. I'm not sure if the Oregon Health Authority still recommends though, maybe not? I'm going to experiment (and research health safety) with the Razor Clam now. After fifty years of eating clams this interests me. Thanks and Happy Tides to you Scott!
That would be a lot of clams! I don't know but I do know that clam population numbers are effected more by humans where access is fairly easy. For example, an easy dive in crystal clear waters provides easy access to clams. Razor clams are taken in the inter-tidal zone which has easy access but the really huge populations of razor clams are in the sub-tidal zone which can be very difficult to access. So, that is my jovial response to your fun question.
There are many factors that determine how well shows show. As a guide most people just look for a - minus tide, and it's true the lower the tide the better. But at a plus 0.3 if it was a beautiful day, with ocean swales less then 2 feet (8 foot swales and clams will not show even on a minus tide), in spring, with full moon, the right beach (greater the sand decline the lower the tide is needed, the decline at Del Ray is good though), etc.. So, sometimes a +0.3 is OK, but easy rule of thumb lower the minus tide the better. I was in Long Beach a couple weeks ago at a 0.0 tide and there were so many shows, at one point I was looking at 50 plus shows at once and I had already limited (took 10 minutes)? At Del Ray I would go on a +0.3 only if ocean swale was really low, on a nice day, in the spring.
You are doing it pretty well, but you are doing it upside down. I've been cleaning razor clams for over 60 years. After removing the shell it should only take you about a minute to completely clean a clam leaving it in one piece. Especially when you are cleaning the digger. You should be cleaning the digger from the hinge side of the clam, then you open the digger and finish with just the two dark veins. Just saying. :o)
When I was a kid (55 years ago), the limit of clams was 35. I dug 7 limits one day with the shovel on a good tide. Clams were huge back then. And, that is why we have the limits we have today!
Fun post, great memories! Here is some trivia fun, until 1940 there was no limit, in 1954 changed to 24, in 1997 changed 15. The closed season started in 1967 July 15 to Aug 31, then in 1997 July to September 30. I too remember taking huge numbers of large clams back in the day! Thanks for sharing!
In the PNW the water bill is laughably cheap. Its also one of the cheapest electric bills I have ever seen even blasting either my heater or A/C nonstop.
Seaside North to Columbia river is closed until October 1st, South of Seaside is open all year. See www.razorclamming.com/clamming-garb/shellfish-license/ or go to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Website and check for openings. You can also make sure there are no restrictions there based on red tides or other. The last few trips I've taken have been on Agate Beach, near Newport, which is open when Seaside is closed. Happy Tides, Ken
Copalis. Been digging there for 70+ years but had to resort to a tube because of age. Last dig was in March and then they closed the beach is due to the virus. I'm 80 and hope to have at least one more season in me.
bemrocs - No. There is a slight resemblance, but a trench shovel has a different blade and a longer handle. I’m from razor clam country so know what a clam shovel (as they are called by everyone) looks like. It isn’t something I would use to dig a trench.
Hi, my name is Ayaka and I work at White Media, a media company in Japan. (facebook.com/spotwrightinc/) We are now making a video about razor clams and it would be wonderful if you give us permission to use this video! If you have any questions, please reply here or to support@white.media . Thank you in advance!!
