With snow falling and the presidential carvings of the orange menace starting to get a little soggy and moldy on the porches of Seattle it was time to kick off the fall razor clam season with a road trip to the coast! Friday night on Mockrocks turned out to be nothing like the weather we left behind. Indeed it was so pleasant that speed could be a secondary concern and I attempted my first limit with a clam shovel. With 4.7 million and 5.7 million golden razors harvested recreationally in Washington in 2016 and 2015 this is about as close to a protein cake walk as you can get.
A small sample of the verbage to give you a taste in case you have blissfully glided through life without reviewing patents:
A manually usable clam digging device free of moving parts comprising a vertically elongated rigid cylinder the lower leading end of which is wholly open and adapted to be manually forced down into the fine moist sand over the usual clam hole in said sand and the upper trailing end of which is substantially flat and closed but is provided with an eccentrically positioned finger-controlled air trapping and releasing vent, and handle means embodying a handle bar having its intermediate portion superimposed on and also eccentrically affixed to the closed portion of said upper end and having end portions projecting beyond diametrically opposite portions of the body of the cylinder and provided with hand-grips, said vent being provided with an upstanding nipple disposed within convenient reach of both of said handgrips.
After successfully harvesting our limits it was time to head to the resort and take advantage of their deluxe clam cleaning hut. I am used to South Dakota bird cleaning stations (hose in a gravel driveway) so this was a real treat. It was heated, with multiple sinks, loaners tools, and even a propane heater for boiling clams. I appreciate slightly different amenities than your typical yelper...
Dig #2:
We convinced Professor Orange and family to join us on this coastal adventure and that first meant it was time for us to continue our tradition of futile salmon fishing trips. The target this time was the Copalis river which is a fancy name for what is essentially a few miles of tidal slough open to coho fishing. During my first salmon season I spent a day fishing with the local crowd and lost 4 fish, including one that broke a leader right under my nose so I was looking for redemption.
It was a little concerning that the locals were not stacked up at the parking lot as I am pretty sure they can smell running salmon. But we ventured across the mud to see some new ground and try our luck.
Of course that didn't work and eventually the sane members of our group joined me for the actual clam digging. The tide never retreated as projected due to the winds so we really earned our clams this time. I didn't even pretend to dig with the shovel and we went to a two spotter, one digger offense. The Copalis beach clams were pretty small so I'm afraid we wiped out the infants on our little stretch of beach. It was so embarrassing that I was ashamed to take pictures, even if I could have convinced my fingers to cooperate. If you also want to take advantage of this valuable resource, the next digging tides are quickly approaching in early December and Washington Fish and Game has put up a good training video if you can't recruit a local.