[kchoo]

Went out Saturday morning to take advantage of the low tide to dig for clams at Bodega Bay. Heaps of people had the exact same idea that day, but there was plenty of room for all.

Between me and two friends, we managed a dozen gapers and 2 butter clams. It was tough and muddy work, and my finger is still sore; from what, I don't recall, perhaps from tugging hard at the nose of a clam.

After the tide started coming in, we had a BBQ lunch, then later in the afternoon, went out crabbing on Doran jetty for about an hour. One friend managed two keepers, another friend got one, while I got only an undersized crab. Not bad for their first time crabbing. I think they might have caught the bug.

Re the clams: being culinarily challenged, I simply made soup out of them (with water + some greens + salt only), but it was pretty good.

[CatchinKelp]

I would like to go clamming some time but apart from getting a shovel, I haven't the foggiest idea how to succeed at it. Can you give some veteran's pointers?

[kchoo]

I'm hardly a veteran, but I'll talk about what I do.

I just go out with a shovel and rubber boots (no, that's not *all* I'm wearing of course). A lot of people use big diameter tubes that they push down into the mud so that the sides don't collapse as they dig. I haven't invested in a tube. This does restrict me to shallower clams and digging more quickly, but you can still score lots this way.

To find shallower-living clams, I often target areas higher on the beach, closer to rocky shore. Being higher means that water doesn't start seeping in and getting in the way until you've gone deeper. Being near rocks means that the clams often live shallower because rocks block their burrowing. The downside is that the rocks are a great way to cut up your hand.

Where I dig, the holes that squirt water seem to always be gaper clams. But not all gapers squirt. I've found that the large round holes seem to always hold gapers. Just start digging. After the first foot (more if the substrate is softer), I reach in with my hand into the muddy water in the hole to see if I can feel the nose. If I can, I go easy with the shovel to avoid breaking the shell. At some point, I start clearing the mud around the shell by hand, then rock it loose, before pulling out the prize.

It is possible to accidentally sever the nose of a gaper with your shovel. My friend invented a method of pounding on the ground with his shovel first to make the clam retract its nose more fully before starting to dig. Seems to work.

Good luck!

[seabass_seeker]

I heard that you can make those big tubes by cutting the bottom out of a 5 gallon bucket. Nice score btw, I'd love some gapers. Too bad they closed Morro Bay to shellfishing.