When I first signed on as this newspaper’s outdoor writer (that were back in 1976, Sonny), phone calls asking for recreation information ran the gamut, but clamming was, and still is, a very popular topic.
“There’s a minus tide this weekend,” the caller would say. “Where can I take the family to dig a bucket of steamers?”
The answer to that was a no-brainer in those days.
“Kayak Point Park is about as good as any,” I would reply. The county beach was close, easy to find, easy to access, easy to dig, and had lots of clams. A no-brainer for sure.
But times have surely changed, so they have. Kayak Point started drawing the largest crowds on Puget Sound during minus tide cycles, the clams got pounded and the seasons shortened. It’s closed now until further notice, to give clam populations a chance to rebuild.
And in-Sound clam digging as a whole has become a complicated, often frustrating exercise, as a burgeoning human population chases a finite resource. Pollution has taken a toll, and many of the Tacoma-Seattle-Everett metro area beaches are closed – either usually or occasionally – because the clams are not fit for human consumption. Private property owners have become more protective of their uplands and their beaches, and more aggressive in trying to stop what they consider trespassing. Tideland ownership in this state is a legal can of worms where, in the words of one Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish manager “Even the county assessors can’t tell you, in many cases, who owns what when it comes to tidelands.” Then there are the public beaches – WDFW, Department of Natural Resources, and others – which are surrounded by private uplands and accessible only by boat.
Harmful algae blooms, commonly called “red tide” but actually red, brown, green, or glow-in-the-dark, can cause clams to store marine toxins. And if you don’t pay attention to Washington Department of Health advisories, toxic clams can do you serious, even fatal, harm
Complicated? Yes. Impossible? No. A family can still have a pleasant outing on a sunny summer day and dig a limit of tasty shellfish, but these days it involves doing a little research and, probably, driving a little farther afield than was once the case.
Following are a few of the basics:
First, stop by a tackle shop or marina and, while buying your shellfish license – $41.61 adult, annual, fish and shellfish; $7 one-day adult; youth 14 and under no license required – pick up a copy of the current Fishing In Washington regulation pamphlet and read the shellfish rules, pages 122-129, carefully. The section will outline seasons and limits, show you drawings of clam species, list many (but not all) beaches currently closed for health reasons, or closed often enough to warrant special attention, and give you telephone numbers and Web sites for more DOH and WDFW information.
Then go to the WDFW site, www.wdfw.wa.gov, click on fishing/shellfishing, then on Shellfishing Beach Maps and Regulations. The site is a pretty good one and, when you click on the little yellow squiggles, will give you at least the name of the beach. In some cases, it will give you much more: size and description, how to get there, types and relative abundance of clams, facilities, and seasons.
With the names of two or three beaches of interest, you can then check them out on the Biotoxin Hotline (1-800-562-5632) or on the Health Department Web site, www.doh.wa.gov., and in the shellfish section of the fishing regulation pamphlet for special rules and/or closures. The WDFW shellfish hotline for most recent regulation changes is 1-866-880-5431.
The four clam species generally called “steamers,” are Manilas, native littlenecks, cockles, and butter clams. They’re all pictured on page 127 of the pamphlet, and it’s important to be able to recognize at least the butter clams (chalky white shells, 3 to 6 inches across, no ridges radiating outward from the hinge, as in the other three species). Butters concentrate marine toxins more efficiently and are sometimes closed on a specific beach when the other three are still considered safe. The drawings also tell you how deep the specific clam is usually found.
The limit is generally 40 clams or 10 pounds in the shell, whichever comes first, all species combined. You’re allowed an additional seven horse clams above the steamer limit. The minimum size of the four steamer species is an inch and a half across the widest measurement, and most current, moderately priced plastic crab gauges, available at marinas and tackle shops, include a hole to measure clams. If you can turn the clam any direction so that it does not go through the hole, it’s legal.
After all that, it’s really a simple, low-tech activity, involving a shovel and a bucket, according to WDFW shellfish biologist Jennifer Whitney at the agency’s Mill Creek office, (425-775-1311). Steamers are usually dug on gravelly or rocky beaches, from just under the gravel surface, to 15 or 16 inches deep or so. Larger horse clams are generally found farther down the beach and deeper.
Manillas, littlenecks and cockles are usually small enough to actually be steamers. Butter clams can be, as well, but at 4 inches, commonly, are often used more in chowder, fritters, or deep-fried clam strips. Horse clam necks must be dipped for a few moments in boiling water, then skinned and pounded. The excellent finished product can then be battered and prepared like geoduck.
Whitney provided the following list of clam beaches in this general area, worth a look by clam diggers. The first three – Birch Bay, West Penn Cove, and Double Bluff – she actually recommended. All three are large areas, easy to access, with excellent clam populations. The remaining beaches on the list are also good but, for various reasons, not quite as productive as the big three.
Generally, Whitney said, diggers should look at a tide book and plan to dig on a minus 1.0 foot or lower.
Birch Bay State Park: Open all year for both clams and oysters, and the oyster population has been enhanced artificially by WDFW. Better than a mile and a half of productive beach, with littlenecks and manilas in the sandy gravel of the upper intertidal area, and butters, cockles and horse clams on the lower tides. Good oyster picking on the northeast end of the beach. Four miles south of Blaine, encompassing the whole south shore of Birch Bay, out to and around Point Whitehorn. Camping, picnic areas, restrooms, convenience store and other amenities close by. Take Exit 266 off I-5, Go left on Grandview for 7 miles, then right on Jackson for one mile, then turn left onto Helweg Road. Whitney said even a low plus tide can be productive here.
West Penn Cove: Almost a mile of public beach, open all year for clams and oysters, right at the base (west end) of Penn Cove on Whidbey Island, accessible from two points between a lot of private uplands. For the north access (a gravel pullout just off Highway 20), take Highway 20 south from Oak Harbor until you see Penn Cove. The pullout is on the left shoulder, just south of Zylstra Road and Just north of Madrona Road. Public tidelands are to the right when you reach the beach. For the south access, drive another quarter-mile south on Highway 20 and turn left onto Madrona Way. Go about a half-mile and look for a small gravel turnout on the left. The area below the north access trail is particularly good digging. WDFW has planted oysters just below the south access, where yellow fiberglass posts and signs mark the suggested harvest area.
Double Bluff State Park (Useless Bay Tidelands): Over 24,000 feet of beach on the southwest shore of Whidbey Island offers a beautiful view over Admiralty Inlet to Mount Rainier, but because of sand deposited from unstable uplands, requires a lower tide – perhaps minus 1.5 or so – to be productive. Butter clams, cockles, and horse clams farther down the beach. The rockier portions of the beach, toward the west from the access point, are best. Double Bluff Park (the upland portion of the facility) is operated by the Friends of Double Bluff and Island County, with no-fee parking for 24 cars, bathrooms, outdoor showers, and a pay phone at the access area. From the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry terminal drive north on Highway 525 for 8.3 miles. Turn left on Double Bluff Road and follow to the end.
Samish Island Recreation Area (Dept. of Natural Resources): The island’s only beach access, 1,800 feet of shoreline, but important that users know public access is limited to 1,500 feet west and 300 feet east of the access point. Butters, Manilas, littlenecks, cockles, horse clams, eastern softshells, and even a geoduck or two at extreme low tides. Occasional health problems. Open all year for clams and oysters. From I-5 take Exit 236 and head west on Bow Hill Road for four miles. At Bow, bear left on 237. Take a right at the stop sign onto Bayview/Edison Road. Take a left at the four-way stop onto Samish Island Road, then a right on Wharf Road and follow to the end. Parking for 6 vehicles, and portable toilets.
Deception Pass State Park: Beach is on the east side of the park, past the Cornet Bay boat ramp, and on around Hoypus Point. Littlenecks, butters and cockles, but patchy digging, so keep looking. Open all year.
Madrona Beach: This is the Madrona Beach on the west half of the south shore of Penn Cove, near Coupeville, not the one on Camano Island. Open all year. Be sure to stay toward the western portion of the Penn Cove shoreline, because the east half of the south shore – known as “Coupeville Beach,” is closed to digging by the Health Department. Access is through Coupeville Park, down the trail and to the left. Some oyster enhancement on this beach.
Long Point: Some 4,400 feet of shoreline a mile east of Coupeville at the mouth of Penn Cove. The west half of the beach, “inside” Penn Cove, is adjacent to Coupeville sewage outfall and is closed for health reasons. Stay “outside” of Long Point, on Saratoga Passage. Digging is best just southeast of Long Point, and also on the point in the middle of the beach, for butters, primarily, but some cockles, horse clams and littlenecks. Take Highway 20 south through Coupeville, then left at Parker Road for one mile, then right onto Portal Place Road and bear left on Marine Drive. Follow to the end and park on shoulder.
NAS Whidbey: If you have access to military installations and meet all post-911 restrictions, a spit in Crescent Bay offers good digging, but only on a very low tide of minus 1.8 or lower.
Tides: Upcoming minus tides are as follows (these are Seattle-area tides; other areas will vary): Today, about noon, minus 2.9 feet; Monday, 1:05 p.m., minus 2.6 feet; Tuesday, 1:47 p.m., minus 1.9 feet; June 10, 10:47 a.m., minus 1.8 feet; and June 11, 11:25 a.m., minus 2.5 feet.
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