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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2019)
B1 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 CONTACT US FOLLOW US Lucy Kleiner lkleiner@dailyastorian.com facebook.com/ DailyAstorian GONE CLAMMING Photos by Luke Whittaker A trio of diggers work the sand in search of clams as the sun sets over the Pacifi c Ocean. Writer offers digging, cooking advice By DAVID CAMPICHE TIDE TABLE — DAILY LOW A razor clam is a wily critter not as fast as Wile E. Coy- ote, but still pretty crafty. Like my cat, a clam avoids human contact, other than on its own infrequent terms. A razor clam is an artist at avoiding the sauté pan. When the weather is fair, the stars in place and the tides correct low and minus, well, then it ain’t so hard. A cold hard wind gusts out of the southwest, swelling the wave tops. The tide is a moderate low, say a one-inch holdover. You leave your toasty car, put on your cold clamming gear and head to the edge of the ocean. Wind and spray are in your face. Your fi ngers are already numb. You expect the digging will be like the last set of wondrous tides — that is you’ll be able to easily spot the clams, with their large, round, indented holes. Of course, nothing is show- ing. Folks are stomping literally across the beach near the surging surf. Occasionally the tide rushes in, and the cold water spills into their rubber boots. Sometimes the waves are high enough that they steal a clam digger’s sack. Old timers dig the surf. They wear waders, and are skilled at spotting the smallest and most imperceptible holes. They will throw the blunt end of their clam shovel into the ebbing saltwater and wait for the clam to make a hasty retreat. When the bivalve does run away straight down and listing to the west the unisex clam leaves a trace of a hole, kind of an inverted dimple. That’s when the digger strikes. That human being Dec. 7: 3:26 p.m., 1.6 Dec. 8: 4:12 p.m., 0.9 Dec. 9: 4:54 p.m., 0.4 Dec. 10: 5:35 p.m., -0.1 Dec. 11: 6:15 p.m., -0.4 Dec 12: 6:55 p.m., -0.7 Dec 13: 7:34 p.m., -0.8 Dec 14: 8:15 p.m., -0.7 Data collected from Columbia River N. Jetty, courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration. While it’s open season for razor clamming in Oregon, clamming dates in Washington vary, so check the Washington De- partment of Fish and Wildlife’s shellfi sh regulations for more information. A digger collects a clam during a foggy evening in Seaview. gets plenty wet and appears sort of like a Civil War veteran or incarnation of a battered soul. If he or she goes into the gro- cery store to pick up smokes or a package of Doritos after the dig, people avoid them, fastidiously. Good clam diggers position their shovels four inches (give or take an inch) on the west side of the hole, dig the fi rst shovel deep (extracting sand) and fol- low with a delicate second, as not to break the shells. They slip their fi ngers into the hole and hopefully pull the clam up by its neck. It is gener- ally advisable to pick the larger holes: larger clams mark their territory with a larger showing, most of the time. Clamming is like fi shing: Ultimately there are no universal guidelines. There does happen to be one rule that is enforced: You may only dig 15 clams. Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life offi cers love to enforce that rule. And they should; 15 clams go a long way. The fi nes are also hefty. Once at home, pull up your sleeves and clean the clams. Be assured: It’s easy. Watch that you are not squirted with a brown oozy mess that resembles spit- ting tobacco. Don’t press the digger too hard. A quick bath in boiling water releases the See Clamming, Page B2
