A good winter razor clam dig is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday on Copalis and Mocrocks beaches, featuring afternoon low tides and daylight digging for a change. The opening was originally scheduled for nine days, which would have included three of the better tides of the winter season, but at the last minute, clams at Long Beach and Twin Harbors did not test safe for human consumption. Those two beaches were eliminated from the scheduled dig, leaving Copalis and Mocrocks on Saturday and Sunday.
But that’s not bad. Both Copalis and Mocrocks should yield limits of good-sized clams, and there should still be plenty of elbow room. This also will be the last chance diggers have to fill their buckets before the Christmas holiday, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department coastal shellfish manager Dan Ayres in Montesano. He said that while both beaches are carrying very good clam populations, Mocrocks may be slightly the better bet.
Tides for the two days are: Saturday, plus 0.5 feet at 3:28 p.m., and Sunday, minus 0.5 feet at 4:21 p.m.
Domoic acid, a marine toxin, is the loose cannon in the picture, determining whether or not a dig is a go or a no-go. Acid levels are measured carefully in clam samples taken shortly before a scheduled opening, according to Health Department formal procedures, sometimes resulting in short notice to recreationists.
For the latest information, visit www.wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish.
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