To find a beach to harvest clams, mussels, and oysters, enter all or part of a beach name and/or select a county from the dropdown menu below. Why it’s one of the best: This is the best Washington beach for dogs! Repeat the process until you reach the clam. List of Public Beaches and Status by County; Recorded Hotline for Biotoxin Closures: 1-800-562-5632; List of Biotoxin Beach Closures by County; Questions? Camera: What’s Better for Ice Fishing, Noodle Rods for Ice Fishing: Everything You Need to Know, Humminbird Ice Helix 7: Best Settings for all Situations, Are Manual Ice Augers Hard to Use: 7 Tips for Easy Drilling, 7 Best Ice Fishing Lures for Perch That Never Fail, How to Easily Paint an Aluminum Boat (With Pictures), sand, gravel, cobble, mid-intertidal to subtidal zones, sand, gravel, cobble, mid to low intertidal, extends into subtidal, sand, gravel, cobble, low intertidal zone, extends into subtidal, Native Littleneck clam, Pacific Littleneck, sand, gravel, cobble, mud, mid-intertidal zone, Nuttall’s Cockle, Heart Cockle, Basket Cockle, sandy, sheltered beaches, gravel, cobble, sometimes on surface, intertidal to subtidal zones, on rocks, piers and other hard, submerged surfaces, sand, intertidal coastal beaches, +3 foot to -2 foot tides, Varnish clam, Purple varnish clam, Savory clam, No min. Ocean Shores is one of Washington’s most popular beaches. OLYMPIA--Washington's ocean beaches will remain closed to razor clam harvest until at least December after test results on razor clams dug at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Kalaloch and Copalis indicate levels of domoic acid that exceed the threshold (20 parts per million (ppm)) set by state public health officials for safe consumption. Not all clam shows look alike. This is also the place to see the well known root tree cave. Click here to subscribe. Current water quality information, beach locations, harvest seasons, and health advisories can be found by searching for the beach name in the search tool on this page, or by visiting the Department of Health's (DOH) shellfish safety interactive map. Recipes may also call for removing the meat from the shell. Razor clams do not require purging because you always open them up and thoroughly clean. It’s important to note that clamming forks are different from clam rakes. Raking is a popular method for manila clams. Rubber boots or waders:  Waterproof footwear is a must to stay comfortable on the beach until your daily limit is caught. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. Dropping crab pots for Dungeness or red rock crab is often done by boat, but crabbing from a dock can be successful too. These beaches may produce good oyster beds since oysters attach to submerged rocks, piers and other hard surfaces. Would love to take the kids (ages 15, 13, 9) clamming. Vibriosis is an intestinal disease caused by vibrio bacteria. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has extensive information on public beaches where clam digging is permitted, including a map showing all public beaches and a bar chart showing when clam digging is permitted at each beach. Take a look at the above map. size, 40 clams or 10 lbs max in shell, Min. Kristin Kendle. And with good reason as this is usually the best place in the state to stalk the wily bivalves. Some contain deep, sticky mud that falsely portrays a compact surface when the tide is out. This technique also works best in mudflats or shallow waters with a soft, muddy bottom. Other popular Hood Canal public beaches for clamming during open season include East Dabob, Quilcene Bay Tidelands, Shine Tidelands State Park and Salsbury Point County Park. Alki Beach Park — Seattle; Marina Beach Park — Edmonds; Madison Park Beach — Seattle; Long Beach — Long Beach; Cape Disappointment State Park — Ilwaco; Ruby Beach — Port Angeles; Seabrook Beach — Seabrook; Jetty Island Park — Everett; Owen Beach — Tacoma; North Jetty — Ocean Shores In order to safely harvest shellfish for human consumption, both the DOH health status and the WDFW season for a beach must be open. Real world tips and information about all things fishing. Red tides get their name from the algal blooms floating on the surface of the water. Cama Beach State Park The rustic waterfront cabins at Camano Island’s Cama Beach State Park offer the best of both worlds: a beach just steps away for daytime exploration, and later, a bed plus electric lights to read by when night falls, with nearby waves offering a soundtrack to sleep by. There are several important steps to insure your clams remain safe to eat. All plants and animals reside where their basic requirements for life are met. Check out our article on the 7 best beaches for clamming in the Puget Sound where we showcase top notch clamming opportunities that are available in Washington State. Before digging for clams, it’s important to always check for beach closures due to pollution, Vibrio bacteria and biotoxin/red tide warnings. The Pacific razor clam is one of the most sought after shellfish in the state of Washington. Drag the rake around until you feel the tines brush over the hard shells. Waders or hip boots allow you to kneel on the beach without getting wet which is a plus when you have to reach inside a deep hole to pull out that escaping clam. However, many things make holes in tidal flats including worms, crabs, snails, mussels and birds. For at-a-glance, site-specific harvest seasons, please see the 2021 Puget Sound clam, mussel, and oyster season guide. Remember to buy and bring your shellfish license! The perfect blend of water, land and weather of the Pacific Northwest Coast combines to create some of the most diverse habitats for intertidal marine life in the world. You’ve caught your daily limit of clams, now what? You can find eastern soft shell clams, manila clams and geoducks in mudflats. It is very important to thoroughly cook all shellfish to prevent getting sick from bacteria. May through September poses the highest risk as temperatures are warmest during this time. In Washington State, these beaches stretch from as far south as the tip of Long Beach to as far north as the Moclips River, where the southern boundary of the Quinault Indian Reservation begins. Location, technique, and timing play important roles in whether or not you come home with a daily limit of these resourceful and adaptable creatures. Washington's Best Kept Secret! Yet, as they are filter feeders, they must eat, expel waste and reproduce at the surface through siphon tubes. Tentative Dates & Tides: Dates will be confirmed by safety tests just prior to the digs. You can sink so deep that you won’t be able to get out before the tide returns. Other smaller shovels, like foldable army shovels, also work but they may require you to dig faster as the blades are not as long. However, night time digs can be dangerous, and the WDFW urges caution when digging at night. A list of the tides in the Puget Sound region that favor good harvest results can be found in the 2021 best clam and oyster harvest tides chart. The best clamming is in the big flat directly off the parking area. Commercial Shellfish. The Buck King Outdoors crew headed to the Washington Coast to try track down the elusive Razor Clam. Keyholes are large and well defined, usually round and occasionally with two holes close together. Warm water off the coast has helped toxic algae thrive, rendering the clams unsafe to eat. A donut hole looks like a mound of sand falling away on all sides from the center hole. Located about three hours from Seattle, the town of Ocean Shores is a bit quieter than similar Oregonian cities, but has the requisite oceanfront hotels, seafood restaurants, places to buy saltwater taffy and family fun.Of course, it also has a beach — several miles of beach, actually. The best clamming is found at the Bayshore Preserve. There are two state agencies responsible for recreational shellfish harvest closures. Insider tip: If they confirm the dates, go for the Long Beach Razor Clam Festival on Saturday, April 20. Lone, Deer, Goss, Cranberry and Pass lakes are all stocked annually. You’ll find ample camping, as well as yurts and cabins, if you are looking to plan a quick vacation around a clamming excursion or two. How Washington State’s Razor Clam Seasons are Determined Surveys are done throughout the summer months to figure … Find a hole and you’ll find a clam. This beach is close to Port Hadlock and Port Townsend. Located about three hours from Seattle, the town of Ocean Shores is a bit quieter than similar Oregonian cities, but has the requisite oceanfront hotels, seafood restaurants, places to buy saltwater taffy and family fun. Tentative Dates & Tides: Dates will be confirmed by safety tests just prior to the digs. Find the transition line between the solid rocks and the surf. For help identifying clam, mussel and oyster (bivalve) species, download the shellfish identification chart. Clam guns may be harder to use on rocky beaches. This information is courtesy of WDFW: Licensing: All persons 15 or older must have their current shellfish/seaweed license while […] You are allowed one Daily Limit in fresh form. This can be a problem if the clams you are targeting reside up to a foot or more below the surface. And … There is much to know when hunting oysters or clams – for the uninitiated it only looks like digging in the mud – so it is best … “Thank goodness for picture tutorials on the web on … The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) regulates the harvesting of razor clams, and you must have a permit. Tip 2: Wear your Northwest best Several clam species are present across several tidal zones. Just as it sounds, this is the portion of beach that always remains underwater. Stretching from Kalaloch Beach in Olympic National Park down to the southern end of the Washington Coast along the mouth of the Columbia River, numerous destinations are available to clammers. This is expelled material from the clam. At the end of this section there is a table that summarizes these locations and beach types with regards to the clams found in Washington State. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) sets Ocean Sport Clamming Seasons. The third method of clamming is called wading or treading. Overnight is our preferred method. The handle and your back should be toward the shore. While there are five razor clam digging regions in Washington State, your best bet for an amazing weekend of clam digging can be found at the following spots: The Copalis Beach region stretches from the north jetty at the mouth of Grays Harbor in Ocean Shores, Washington, all the way north to the Copalis River. 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