Northwest Reel Life March 2024 Volume 3 Issue 5 - Flipbook - Page 17
Raking along the surface,
or simply scooping a few
inches of the substrate
with a shovel, should easily
expose these bivalves at
low tide. After collecting
your clams, you’ll want
to store them in a cooler
with a few ice packs to
keep them chilled during
transportation. Do not
submerge them in water
during transport. Once
you are home, you can
then submerge them in
saltwater that you collected
from the area where they
were harvested. You’ll
want to keep the saltwater
cool with ice packs. This
submerging process is
intended to purge the
clams of any sand or grit
they have stored inside
them. Discard any dead
clams (clams that stay open
and will not close no matter
how much you poke at
them, should be considered
dead). Manilla clams can
be eaten whole and are
great for chowder, pasta, or
soups. Minimum size is 1 1/2
inches.
BUTTER CLAMS
Butter clams are
significantly larger than
manilas, often growling up
to about 5 inches. At a +2 ft
tide or lower, search along
the beach for small holes
in the sand or mud. Once
a hole is located, you can
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dig with a spade shovel
down to around 18 inches
or until you reach the clam.
Use the same technique
as with Manila clams to
purge. Though butter clams
are delicious when served
with melted butter, this is
not where they get their
name. Instead, butter clams
get their name because
of the natural buttery
flavor of their flesh. They
can be used for chowder,
barbecued on the half shell,
or even fried. Minimum size
is 1 1/2 inches.
HORSE CLAMS
Ah, the mighty horse clam.
Different from the oyster,
manilla, or butter clam,
the horse clam presents
a set of challenges that
place it in a category not
far from the Pacific Coast
razor clam. These clams
grow quite large and can
reach up to 5 lbs. They can
be found in the sand or
gravel and are easiest to
harvest when located in
sand substrate. Walk the
beach and scan the surface
for a siphon protruding out
of the sand. Horse clams’
siphons are rough to the
touch. Once you find the
siphon, you can either start
digging with your shovel
immediately, or you can
take a stick and push it
down into the siphon.
MARCH 2024 | 17
