Hombre
04-04-2022, 12:17 PM
Had a fun family weekend at Long Beach, Washington. We headed out Friday night and arrived in LB around 7:30PM. The whole family went which included our daughter and her fiance, son and a friend, and the wife and I. Our daughter and her fiance camped in one of those tents that mounts to the bed of a truck, but, the rest of us opted for an airbnb. I love camping but setting up for a 2 day trip just doesn't seem worth it so we opted for the less work option.
Hitting town at 7:30 we stopped at the local grocery store and stocked up on snacks and some food. I'll tell you if you think inflation is bad try hitting a mom and pop grocery store at a town of 1500. After hitting up the grocery store we went to the airbnb and laid out our gear for the razor clam hunt. Razor clamming is best 1-2 hours before low tide. A few things are important. One, timing you need to go at the right time. Two, gear as we've all experienced gear, whether fishing or hunting, can be the difference between a miserable or enjoyable experience. For razor clamming you really need waterproof gear. I go with muck boots, waterproof carhart pull over pants, and a waterproof top. Then you need a clamming gun. Clamming guns are basically a 4" PVC pipe cut to 24-30" and capped, then drill a hole in the cap and add a 1.5" PVC cross ways for a handle.
Clamming lot of fun but it takes a bit to get an eye for it. You wait until the tide goes out, leaving smooth sand, and look for the smallest dimple in the sand. Then, you take the clamming gun and gently tap causing the clam to try and go deeper and making a larger indention in the sand. Now you know the clams there, and a good location. You take the gun and center it and start pushing it into the sand, and then cover the hole and pull the sand out, hopefully with the clam!
Day 1 was great weather, no wind and about 50 degrees. We ended up catching right around 50 clams and the day was just about perfect, I limited out this day at 15 and made sure everyone knew. That day Kathryn had trouble seeing them and opted just to follow and talk with all of us, and really didn't clam much, I think she got 2.
Day 2 the weather really turned. This was the day good clothes really helped. It was about 40 degrees with a 30 mile/hr north wind and driving rain. Sometimes I just have more fun battling the elements and was still having a great time. What made this day so enjoyable though was Kathryn found one immediately and then couldn't stop finding them. I had to pull her off the beach she was having so much fun, but we had a schedule to keep. She ended up with 11 and beat my 9, which I still haven't heard the end of.
One of the exciting frustrating parts of clamming is finding one and starting your dig, then the tide comes in fast. All the sudden you're in 3 feet of water. You don't have many choice other than a) leave your gun in the sand until the tide goes out then check or b) abandon the clam....Sometimes b is the right choice it can get pretty high pretty quick and the waves on this spot of the pacific, this time of year, are 4-6'. That doesn't sound like much but there's a lot of energy behind those, and the tide.
All in all this was a great trip.
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13063
Hitting town at 7:30 we stopped at the local grocery store and stocked up on snacks and some food. I'll tell you if you think inflation is bad try hitting a mom and pop grocery store at a town of 1500. After hitting up the grocery store we went to the airbnb and laid out our gear for the razor clam hunt. Razor clamming is best 1-2 hours before low tide. A few things are important. One, timing you need to go at the right time. Two, gear as we've all experienced gear, whether fishing or hunting, can be the difference between a miserable or enjoyable experience. For razor clamming you really need waterproof gear. I go with muck boots, waterproof carhart pull over pants, and a waterproof top. Then you need a clamming gun. Clamming guns are basically a 4" PVC pipe cut to 24-30" and capped, then drill a hole in the cap and add a 1.5" PVC cross ways for a handle.
Clamming lot of fun but it takes a bit to get an eye for it. You wait until the tide goes out, leaving smooth sand, and look for the smallest dimple in the sand. Then, you take the clamming gun and gently tap causing the clam to try and go deeper and making a larger indention in the sand. Now you know the clams there, and a good location. You take the gun and center it and start pushing it into the sand, and then cover the hole and pull the sand out, hopefully with the clam!
Day 1 was great weather, no wind and about 50 degrees. We ended up catching right around 50 clams and the day was just about perfect, I limited out this day at 15 and made sure everyone knew. That day Kathryn had trouble seeing them and opted just to follow and talk with all of us, and really didn't clam much, I think she got 2.
Day 2 the weather really turned. This was the day good clothes really helped. It was about 40 degrees with a 30 mile/hr north wind and driving rain. Sometimes I just have more fun battling the elements and was still having a great time. What made this day so enjoyable though was Kathryn found one immediately and then couldn't stop finding them. I had to pull her off the beach she was having so much fun, but we had a schedule to keep. She ended up with 11 and beat my 9, which I still haven't heard the end of.
One of the exciting frustrating parts of clamming is finding one and starting your dig, then the tide comes in fast. All the sudden you're in 3 feet of water. You don't have many choice other than a) leave your gun in the sand until the tide goes out then check or b) abandon the clam....Sometimes b is the right choice it can get pretty high pretty quick and the waves on this spot of the pacific, this time of year, are 4-6'. That doesn't sound like much but there's a lot of energy behind those, and the tide.
All in all this was a great trip.
13062
13063