Netarts Bay clamming! Video!

[PNW Sam]

Went out last Saturday, the 2nd, and did some clamming at Netarts. I went with six other people, and we got 95 clams total. Four of us knew what we were doing, and the others had never been clamming before. It was the normal limits for the four of us who regularly go, and we each put at least 5 smaller ones back. I put up a video, check it out. http://youtu.be/7oTGtHbxbrs

We were north of the parking areas on the East side of the bay. We park at the normal parking area, cross at the shallow part of the side channel, and then walk north to the clean sand. We went for just Cockles, and that is where the good ones are. The farther north and the farther in the water the better.

Edit: For some reason when I used the stability enhancement on my video it made it really wavy and shaky. It should be back to normal soon.

 

[eugene1]

Nice video, and great clams!

 

[PNW Sam]

Thanks! Had a great time, Netarts is fun.

 

[jamisonace]

Those clams look delicious. I went clamming once and found a lot of cockles but I couldn't get rid of the sand.

What's the trick?

 

[PNW Sam]

I've never had a problem with sand in Cockle clams.

My process for cleaning them is:

1) Boil for 10-30 seconds until the clam pops open.
2) Place the clam in to ice water.
3) When the clam is cooled down enough to handle, remove the entrails with one cut with scissors.
4) With my thumb, I then scrape anything that isn't white out of the inside of the clam.
4) Insert the scissors down the digger and make a cut, opening it up, while the digger remains whole.
5) Scrape down the inside of the digger if there is anything not white inside (AKA poop).
6) The clam is completely clean and ready to eat. In this state they won't be fully cooked, but they can be prepared however you like.

I've heard that the small Cockles can be used as steamers, but I've never tried them that way. It seems like a waste to me to use a clam with such growth potential when it is small enough to eat as a steamer. They also are one of the stronger tasting clams.

 

[bythesea]

cool video were you clamming at a minus tide? so did you eat all at one sitting or can you freeze some? I've never tried cockles but,I love steamer clams!!!

 

[PNW Sam]

The tide was about -1.2.

We clam in the Spring, then freeze them and eat them until the next Spring when we get more. We eat some fresh, but we freeze the majority.

 

[bythesea]

Nice I guess I'm going to have to go get me a rake and give it a try.would you say there's places (beaches) that would or would'nt be as productive?Im in florence

 

[PNW Sam]

Cockles are bay clams, so open beaches wouldn't work out. they are in pretty much every bay though. The only thing is that they are only found in certain areas of a given bay, just like all other clams. For example I have clammed Tillamook, Nehalem, and Netarts, but I have only found cockles in Netarts. They occur in all three bays, but I just haven't found the right spots in Tillamook or Nehalem yet.

ODFW has great resources to help you find clams. I'll link you to the page they have for Netarts, but near the top of the page you will notice links to all the other major bays. Each bay has a map and detailed description of each type of clam for all the different areas within the bay. I was in Area 6 of Netarts. http://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/shellfish/maps/Netarts.asp

 

[bythesea]

Thanks,I never noticed that page before the cockle area is only 5 minutes away Last question you were raking in the water does it matter? Thanks,

 

[2ndChance]

Nice clams, they look like the bay scallops we have here, until you cut them open.

I noticed in your video and in lots of others, people are using the four pronged rake. Does anyone ever use the clam rakes with 8 or 9 tines and the metal basket?

 

[PNW Sam]

Instead of looking for the clam "shows" in dry sand, I prefer to broadcast rake in the water. My reason for this is that not all clams will show, so you will be walking over clams looking for the ones that are showing, and less people work in the water. Only people that are somewhat serious about clamming work the water, especially deeper. I raked in the shallow water there for the purpose of making the video, but if you wade in to 3ft+ of water you can find a lot more big clams.

The vast majority of people that clam Netarts are fairly inexperienced and almost always gravitate towards to middle of the big tidal flat or stay close to the parking areas. This means that even the very best areas are relatively untouched, just because a lot of people are inexperienced. There is a guy that comes out in a boat every time I'm there (he lives there and I only go on the best tides, probably why), and he is somewhat of a professional at clamming. When he goes for cockles he almost always rakes the sand in the water or goes way out on the tip of the flat and looks for shows in dry sand where almost nobody else goes.

That being said, if you are in a cockle bed you will find them in both dry sand and in the water. It's just better quality clams where people can't as easily get to them.

 

[CoastieFlo]

Wow, that looks like work......It takes me about 5 minutes to get a limit of Cockles at Newport........Also there is a good spot on the north side of the bay at Waldport as well. Dry sand w/eel grass almost always has lots of Cockles. They squirt when u get close to them or you can feel them with your feet.