Anyone ever go clamming?

I just looked at Eric G's post on the Bay Area Tuna Club board, in the "Crabs and Dabs" section, and I want to have a go at it.  They are HUGE!  8-9 inches and one or two pounds each.  I have never tried clamming.  If anyone knows how to spot and dig for them, or just wants to figure it out with me, there is a -0.61 tide at 12:13 PM on Sunday in the Point Reyes area.  Eric G mentions that a PVC pump and an isolation tube make the digging easy but I'm not sure what kind of pump he is talking about.  Does anyone know?  I'm thinking take kayaks  and do a little recon  paddling around the shallows as the tide is dropping.  Here is a link to the spot he mentioned:

http://www.lawsonslanding.com/clamming.htm

Jonathon,

I totally forgot about clamming.  That would be a great family outing, though very dirty.  I'll have to check the schedule with my wife and align it with the tides.

When I was little, my dad would take us clamming, but its hard dirty work.  We went out of Lawsons or Dillion beach a few times (can't remember which).  There used to be a "clam barge" that would take you out to the flats for a few bucks.  My understanding is that the boat is gone and you have to have your own transportation.

The flats were littered with clams (geoducks and horsenecks).  Easy to spot because of their siphones.  If you touch them, water typically spurts out and they retract down.
A clam gun is closed on one end with the exception of a thumb hole.  Push the pipe down over the clam, put your thumb on the hole and pull up.  Personally I've seen them but never used one.

Our only tool was a shovel.  Only problem is that the hole starts to cave in.  So, dig fast, get on your knees reach down and work the last foot with your hands until you can grab it.  The clams we got were decent sized, but not 2 lbs.  If they are that big, they've got to be DEEP!!  Not sure if this is urban legend or truth, but heard a story about guys using garbage cans with the bottom cut out to prevent the hole from caving in when digging for big ones.

We cleaned them by cutting off the long siphon (neck), peel the dark brown skin off and cut the very tip off.  Run water through it to get the sand out, split in half and fry them.  They taste very good, considering the smelly dark sand which they come from.

Personally, I think Pismo clams are the best.  We used to use the pitchforks in the Grover/Pismo area.  That was a long time ago, so I don't know if they are still there or if the otter's cleaned them out.  Those were the best!!  Second to that are razors.

At the bottom are Cockles.  They are ok, but whenever we got them, they were found in rocks/black sand and it stunk when we cooked them, though they taste ok.  For that reason, we stopped going after those little stink bombs.

One more thing, try to save a bucket of salt water.  Leave the clams overnight in the bucket and they will "purge" out a lot of the sand.  You don't have to do this with horsenecks, but I'd highly reccomend for the hard shell clams like the pismo and cockle clams.

Stuart

Here is the picture of Eric G's clams:

http://offshoreanglers.com/discuss/forum_posts.asp?TID=2336&PN=1

Bigeye Dave slayed the clams yesterday.  I will let him brag about his mollusk slaughter!

Thanks for the info, Stuart.  The Lawsons Beach site says that the ferry is gone forever but who needs a ferry when one has a kayak!  I'm waiting for Eric, from BATC, to fill me in on the details of the equipment he uses.  He says some are "surface" clams and only one foot down, so I imagine "deep" must be three, or more, feet.  If he's digging 20 2-3 foot holes, before the tide rises too high, he must have a very efficient method.  I'm hoping to get at least one or two so I can make a seafood chowder - yummm.

I am waiting for Dave's report  

Oh ya,  Stuart, can you use the California Coastal Records Project site to point me too a spot where you dug for clams?  Here is a starting point:

http://www.californiacoastline.org/cgi-bin/maplocate.cgi?0,current,164,0,328,0,38.237833,122.982667,360,225,105,169

Jonathon,
I don’t have a clue where the barge dropped us off.  It was a long time ago.  The kayak would work fine, all you need is a shovel and a bucket.  I’m pretty sure you can launch from Lawsons (looks like a trailer park) and paddle to a nearby sandbar that’s exposed on a low tide.  As I recall, the area was pretty much mud flats on the low and the clams were all over the place.  
I searched around on that site but can’t tell because the tide seems high when they took those picts.  On a minus, there is a lot of exposed area inside the bay.

The problem for me is the wife and 2 kids.  I’d love to get them into the action, looking for the siphon holes and playing in the sand, but I can’t take the smallest one in the kayak just yet.  I’d prefer to find a spot that I can park the car and walk.  I’m wondering about either walking from lawsons or even inside bodega.  I've seen a lot of area exposed inside bodega (on a minus) as I'm driving up the coast.

PS, you can make a “clam gun”.  Just buy a large diameter piece of PVC pipe, and cap one end.  Drill a hole 3/8’s(?) and attatch a handle.  Push the pipe over the clam hole, then put your thumb on the hole and pull up.  Its supposed to suck up the sand and clam.

Here are a few pictures  (google search on “clam gun”).
http://www.gamefishin.com/wa/features/dig.htm
http://www.kamperswest.com/razor-clams.html

FYI... I see people digging for clams inside the bodega bay harbor all the time at low tide.  You can walk way out there on a low tide.  

I have also heard of people going into tomales bay for them but I'm not sure exactly where they go... I have heard that the clamming is better in tomales bay... must be less picked over.

the big minus tides this weekend should be good for that.

I think this photo shows where they can be found in Tomales Bay/Lawson's Landing

http://www.lawsonslanding.com/clamming.htm

http://www.lawsonslanding.com/images/Law-Pet_1.pdd.jpg

I just did some surfing.  

Check out this link:
http://www.lawsonslanding.com/clamming.htm

I think it was seal island, which will get 10x Larger on a minus tide.  I'm pretty sure you can get them anywhere from lawsons and you don't need a yak or boat.  The bigger ones are probably on the island.

I'm going spearfishing(free diving) for the first time over memorial day weekend, and am now thinking of stopping off at either tomales or Bodega to dig a few clams along the way.  The Friday AM tide is a little early, considering I'm driving from San Jose.  Right now I'm on the fence.  Sleeping in and staying clean sounds appealing.  But then again so does eating the sweet tasting clams.

Stuart

lol  I thought that was you I saw at that site (three minutes ago)  Actually, look at the my first post at the top of the page.

What can I say, great minds think alike.  Some just a little slower.

Based on Erik's post, I may just hit the inside of Bodega Harbor on 5/27.  A half limit would be plenty.  

Erik, are you talking about the southern end of the harbor, as you drive up HWY 1?

Stuart

I usually see people either on the north end of the harbor or on the south west side of the harbor anywhere from spud point marina out toward the mouth...

Erik

you need a shovel and a clam tube.  The clam tube is a piece of pvc pipe oh about 14" across (you can by them).  when you see a clam touch it.  it will retreat into the sand.  if it doesn't it's dead.  after it has retreated dig a hole about 11/2 feet deep and put the tube into it.  push and work it down until it is just above the surface of the sand.  this keeps the hole from acving in and keeps water out.  then just dig down a couple of feet more.  lay on the ground and reach to the bottom of the hole.  Feel around until you feel the clam.  and pull him up.  they are often really stuck in the sand so a gentle tug on the syphon helps to lossen him up.  but don'y pull too hard or you'll come back with just the syphon.  it's fun dirty and will tire you out.  There are other methods but this one is simple and works well.  Oh, bring a gunny sack or a bucket to carry the clam in.  BTW...the population has been desimated in the last few years.