So who else has razor clams nearby???

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Had a Humboldt Delicacy for dinner tonight...
Joanie's twin gave me 10 razor clams he dug this morning up at Clam Beach.
I cleaned 'em, breaded 'em and fried 'em right up!!!
Sorry, didn't think to take any pictures...
It's been years since I ate clams from that beach.
I think the last time I went clamming there was about 15-20 years ago...
There's another good negative tide tomorrow morning, but I can't go... Gotta work.
There is no finer clam on this planet than a razor...
Who else has razors where they live?
I know Dave does up in Alaska...

[bledsoe3]

We can get them up here too. I love clams. I think I'll call my dad and see if he wants to go clamming. I don't know what the season is but next weekend is Mendocino and the following is the 10th Annual Great Beaver State Camp-out. I'm not sure my wife would let me leave her with the kids three weekends in a row.

Me: Honey, I leaving next weekend again to go clamming with my dad. After my fifth gathering this summer (runs and hides).
Her: What, you useless #$%*&%. I'm not staying home again with the kids while you run off again.
Me:

[asianflava]

Me: Honey, I leaving next weekend again to go clamming with my dad. After my fifth gathering this summer (runs and hides).

Fifth?! Man you shure are getting around. I've only done 3; Beaver's Bend, Hanksville, and Minden. I think I only have 3 more that I can possibly do.

[Arne]

Take her with you.. after getting all that muck on her feet, next time she'll tell you how busy she is and you'll just have to go alone.

[JunkMan]

I had some years ago while in Alaska, and they were GREAT! Digging for clams is on my list of things that I want to do the next time I get up there.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Arne,
One other nice thing about razors... They're in shallow sand, not mud.
You don't get mucky when going after razors and all you need is a shovel.
When you see a hole all you do is basically compress the sand at a side angle with the shovel by squeezing most of the water out so the razors can't go deeper.
I've never cared much for the clams we have in the bay here, because of how much better razors taste.
In fact... The only time I've ever dug bay clams were back in my kinetic sculpture racing days during bay crossings... Just couldn't resist dropping down in the mud and going after 'em when you'd see a big geyser shoot up. We were already mucked up from head to toe. We've got Martha Washingtons, Horsenecks and a few other types of clams here in the bay.

[Juneaudave]

Surprisingly...while a lot of folks clam, clamming isn't big here in Southeast Alaska...even though there are good stocks. Most of the personal use clamming and commercial harvesting goes on in the Kenai area.

The main reason is the lack of PSP testing in SE waters. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), implementing a PSP testing program in SE would be very expensive, so the only certified beaches are located on the Kenai near our population centers. So the folks in SE that clam, and many do, essentially are betting on the odds that they won't get poisened.

Sometimes Alaska really frustrates me....for a State that has $40 billion in its rainy day fund, you would think that maintaining a PSP testing program on known clamming areas statewide would be a public safety function that we could support!!!

[Betsey]

Ooooowww! My absolute all time favorite food....CLAMS!...During my growing up living on the coast (North Atlantic), we had LOTs of clams - razor, quahogs and Ipswich belly clams (the BEST for fried!!!!!)

No longer living in New England, I absolutely love going home and when I do, I will get clams in some form everyday I am there.

Fried clams that simply MELT in your mouth are the BEST! And I don't mean those rubbery frozen clam strips you get here in Wisconsin.

Now, you've made me hungry!

Betsey

[doug hodder]

You don't get mucky when going after razors and all you need is a shovel.

Dean...get a clam gun!!! Just go into the sporting good store and get one...and get a couple of boxes of shells...no time wait or permit required... anyone else out there that knows what one is? Doug

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Doug,
If you come up to Clam Beach and bring a clam gun be prepared to be laughed off the beach by all the locals and please don't tell anybody you're with me.
Some guys swear by 'em, but I guess they like cleaning clam halves too.

[pgwilli]

Hi Dean,
The razor calm harvest always figured prominently in our family vacations when I was young. As I recall the limit back then was 36 for adults and 18 for kids and they had to be over 5”.
Seems like all our family activities had something to do with gathering food, shellfish, berries,etc …probably had some thing to do with one income & six kids.

[Kevin A]

Doug,
If you come up to Clam Beach and bring a clam gun be prepared to be laughed off the beach by all the locals and please don't tell anybody you're with me.
Some guys swear by 'em, but I guess they like cleaning clam halves too.

I got one of them clam guns sittin in the back of my truck, Hey Dean, when we goin clammin?

[Juneaudave]

Check this out...I always thought a clam gun was a tube jiggy....but the Seattle PI says different...Clam Gun

[doug hodder]

It appears that my "old school" humor is lost in the present day, pre Eddie Bauer, LL Bean....back in the late 50's and 60's a "clam gun" was a shovel, ideally a WW2 infantry that you could either make it straight or on a 90 degree...It was killer for digging clams..and living in Alaska, the joke back then was to make the "out of staters" go into the local sporting goods shop and ask for one, and ask for a box of shells...everyone got a laugh, but that was then, and this is now...someone picked up on the name is making dough$$ out of it...Good for them...I still got my original "clam gun"..but it now picks up dog crap when camping!!! Doug

[Kevin A]

Clam Gun.