Clam Clinic Seaside 2009
Clam Clinic Seaside 2009 report:
Association member Casey writes: Hi Bill, We hade a great time at seaside and got our limits of razors! It was our first time digging razors so we cracked some shells and got some small ones but we kept em all. We fried them up and they were delicious. I noticed that they have a similar flavor to abalone (I used to be a diver in Ca). Great fun and we can’t wait till next time. I’ve included a pic of our limits of razor clams. Casey Brisbin
Approximately 40 participants attended the lecture series portion of Clam Clinic Seaside 2009. On the following morning we met at the public parking lot located at the ocean end of 12 Ave. Clam digger and association member Steve and I were the first diggers on the beach at 05:30 and we were greeted by several razor clams donuts in the wet sand. I’ll just bet if we were on the beach at daybreak we would have found razor clams showing. The clams were deep and I managed to dig only 1 of the first 3 that showed.
Steve struck out managing to dig only 1 razor clam for all the effort he put into it. I returned to the parking lot to greet the other diggers and my physician Dr Alison Ma and her husband Mike both of whom are new to digging clams. We departed the parking lot sharply at 06:15. and the diggers dispersed evenly along the beach. Fifty percent of the diggers dug limits of razor clams while the remainder managed to dig between zero and two to four plus clams. I dug a half of dozen clams in the surf using the method recommended by ODFW’s Matt Hunter. I have experienced the disappointment of the diggers who did not do well and well as the satisfaction of those that did well. One couple dug a combined total of twenty razor clams mostly from the wet sand. I cannot understate the importance to those new to digging razor clams of being on the beach 2 plus hours before low tide and digging though to the change in tide. As always good digging, Bill
On 07/01 Clam Diggers Association Board Member Jerry Reports: Good Morning Bill my friend, Last week’s low tide session was fantastic! Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, my friend, John Lim, and I were first people on the Seaside beach at 4:45am , and we were on our way home with limits by 6:30 – 7:00am , each day! John actually dug his 15 on Sunday in 23 minutes! Not bad for a guy in his mid-70’s. The razors were showing in the wet sand in multiples of 8-10 at a time. Many times when you would begin to dig one, others would then show within 1-2 feet from the dig. John did dig a couple of the juveniles until I showed him to only select the largest shows, it went well from then on. Most of the clams were in the 5 – 51/2 inch range. I did dig one on an exposed sandbar that is 6.5″ long and 3.0″ wide. Not really that much bigger, but it really stands out when sitting with the rest. I am trying to wean myself from the clam gun and use only the razor shovel, so it takes me a little longer, also I am now finding better luck in the 8-12 inch deep surf, but it can be a wet experience! hehe!
Wednesday we changed the game and took inflatable pontoon rafts to Netarts. We arrived very early so that there would still be water, and launched the boats from the rocks near the RV park. We rowed directly out to the far seaward point of the gaper digging area, beached the boats and gear and started looking for gaper shows. My God! They were everywhere! LARGE shows! Some of the holes were 2 -21/2″ and most had little “barnacle-looking” siphons sticking up out of them about 1/4 inch. As you will see in the video I produced, we concentrated on finding 2-3 holes grouped close enough together that they fit into the same bottom-less bucket ring. I am trying to figure out how to download my video to U-tube… maybe I can get that done today. I will send you the directory when I “get ‘er done”. We did get some of the largest gapers and cockles I have seen come out of Netarts Bay . When we were ready to leave, we packed up the clams and digging gear, loaded it into the pontoon rafts and rowed back across the channel to the road side beach now covered in eel grass and 50 yards still away from the road. Rather than carry the gear and rafts across the slippery beach, I had John walk to the truck and I tied the two rafts together and rowed them and the gear down the channel to the Netarts boat ramp. It all worked out very neatly!
Thursday, we were back on Seaside Beach , and it was a totally different story! The ocean had come up overnight and the waves were still pounding. Everyone was struggling to find shows, some were found early in the dry sand. Finally the tide subsided enough to allow me to wade to my favorite sandbar (neoprene waders only, no hip boots will make it). Even there it took me an hour in 15 inch water to scratch out a limit of average size 5 of inches. On my walk back to the truck I was met by the ODFW, driving the sands in their white truck taking surveys of the harvest. They told me I was only the 3rd digger to report a limit, which tells me most folks were still having a tough time. I informed them of the baby clams floating about and being gobbled up by fighting seagulls, and they expressed surprise. As politely as possible I suggested that if they would get out of their truck and walk around a little, they would observe this also. John had given in early and was found in the truck, dry, warm, drinking hot coffee and reading the morning paper.
Friday was an “off day” as we both had business errands to tend to which could not wait. Saturday morning found us back on Netarts Bay , as John wanted a couple of live gapers to transport the following day to his daughter and son-in-law living in Idaho . My target for the day was a limit of butter clams. As you will see in the photos and video, we both accomplished our goals. However I observed something that really disturbs me, and leads me to the conclusion that we should consider recommending reducing the daily personal limit on these large OLD gaper clams. There was a team of 6 young lads, I am guessing 17-19 years of age. They have discovered that by using large diameter “home-made” clam guns, they can dig these large gapers in seconds! In the time it took John and I to hand dig 4 gapers and 20 butter clams, they had amassed 72 large old gapers. (All placed into two large “carry tubs”). Now Bill, correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that these large gapers are 20 – 30 years old. What will happen to our resource if each of these 6 lads return later this month each with 5-6 more new friends of their own? Do the math,..6X6 =36 diggers. Thirty-six limits of 12 each will equal a take of 432 of these old clams daily. This resource could literally and legally be decimated in a matter of months. Now is the time to act to save this resource; if we wait even one year it will be too late. We must petition to the ODFW to reduce the daily limit to 4 gapers per person, (one person cannot consume more than this). We must also petition the State and County Police to step up their patrol again and enforce the existing game and fishing regulations. I find it totally amazing that during the entire 6 days I was actively clamming last week, I never saw a single law enforcement officer. Happy trails, -Jerry
Hi Jerry, Young guys do very well pumping gaper clams with a shrimp gun. The water from the pump blow the sand, sandy mud or mud from the clams faster than you can dig them. I do not see any thing wrong with an effective improved digging method. It only works when water is present. Gaper clams live a long as 17 years. However, assisted clam digging is illegal as is placing the clams into common containers and carrying the containers off of the digging flats. There is a group of older guys who using shrimp guns pump groups of gaper clams from a common hole from the tidal flats under the bridge in Yaquina Bay . I am forwarding your concerns to Lt. Cleary of the OSP. As for reducing the limit we need develop consensus based on reasoning and fact before petitioning the ODFW Commission. We have a number of suggestions for amending the clam digging regulations that we are working on. I have had some preliminary discussions with Mich Vance but he has been fairly guarded about expressing an opinion. As always good digging, Bill
