| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 1:01 am |
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Sports 
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Winter clams draw a crowd Think razor clam digging and you think summer sunshine, surf and sand, kids running and yelling, dogs chasing Frisbees, barefoot diggers in shirts and shorts, kites flying and joggers jogging.But there’s another breed of coastal clam digger, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department shellfish biologist Dan Ayres in the agency’s Montesano office, which looks forward to really lousy winter weather and the challenge of wrestling a limit of clams off the beach in the teeth of wind, rain and pounding surf. And, a little oddly, there seems to be more of that breed around than you might imagine. “Our winter digs seem to attract a fairly large, hard-core crowd,” Ayres said. “In fact, when the tides fall right and we can offer an opening over the New Year’s holiday — as we can this winter — it’s usually one of the most popular of the entire year.” The weather and surf conditions are generally worse this time of year than they are during the late spring and summer digs, but there’s apparently a lot of allure to a stormy ocean beach in the wintertime, with many outdoors-oriented folks. “That, and the fact that the total number of diggers is lower, seems to make these end-of-year openings popular,” Ayres said. “There’s a certain element which considers it a challenge to beat the weather and get a limit despite adverse conditions. I’ve had a number of these types tell me that spring and summer digs are just too easy.” Razor clam populations on the coastal beaches have been healthy enough this fall and winter to provide a generous slate of digging opportunities, according to Ayres. Tentatively scheduled, pending testing for marine toxins, are the following late-year openings: Dec. 2, minus 1.2 feet at 6:32 p.m., on Long Beach and Twin Harbors beaches. Dec. 3, minus 1.4 feet at 7:18 p.m., on Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches. Dec. 4, minus 1.3 feet at 8:04 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches. Dec. 5, minus 0.9 feet at 8:51 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches. And, the hot-ticket New Year’s dig: Dec. 31, minus 1.1 feet at 6:16 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches. Jan. 1, minus 1.8 feet at 7:01 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch beaches. Jan. 2, minus 1.6 feet at 7:45 p.m., on Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks beaches. Jan. 3, minus 1.2 feet at 8:29 p.m., on Twin Harbors beach. Great tides on Friday, Jan. 1 and Saturday, Jan. 2, should pull diggers out of the woodwork, assuming reasonable surf at all. The rule of thumb this year, Ayres said, is that there have been slightly higher populations of razor clams south of Grays Harbor, and slightly larger clams north of Grays Harbor (that’s the physical body of water itself, not Grays Harbor County), although there should be plenty of limits of nice-sized clams available on all the beaches. The coastal beaches include: Long Beach, from the Columbia River to Willapa Bay; Twin Harbors, from Willapa Bay north to Grays Harbor; Copalis Beach, from Grays Harbor north to the Copalis River, including Copalis, Ocean Shores, Oyhut, and Ocean City; Mocrocks Beach, from the Copalis river north to the so |
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