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!
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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!!
