Razor Clam Digging & Tricks of the Trade

 

 

 

 

 

  Razor Clam Digging History ;  What is a Razor Clam?  This meaty Pacific razor clam lives on inter-tidal coastal sandy beaches.  Here, a low (preferably a minis) tide is the time to dig, as these clams live in sand that is normally under water.  Digging time can be from an hour before low tide, and then onto the incoming tide.  Usually from about October through April, is the time of the year digging is allowed in Washington State.

 

   Here, to prolong the season, they have either morning digs or afternoon digs.  Morning digs seem to be early spring/summer, then moving to afternoon digs for fall and winter.  Morning digs are the simplest, as just show up and start the show on the road. 

 

     Afternoon digs require additional preparations, in that you will need some kind of a light, identifying your vehicle in the dark, and being able to exit the beach without becoming stuck in the sand at a entrance ramp.

    Safety ;  Here you need to adhere to being very observant, ESPECIALLY if youngsters accompany you.   They can disappear very quickly if you are preoccupied and water seems to attract them.  Sneaker waves could knock them down and be carried out to sea.

   Also for you the digger, IF CLOSE TO THE SURF, NEVER turn your back on the ocean, for the same reason as stated above.


    Clothing ;  I have dug on bright sunny days where flip-flops and tee shirts were the order of the day.  Then just the opposite as low tides are known to present themselves during rainy/windy days, where rain gear would be appropriate.  However one highly recommendation would to always have spare clothing back in your vehicle. 

    Then depending on your method of digging (shovels as compared to guns) also make a difference.  Using shovels, you WILL many times need to "Go For Them" sometimes clear to your armpits.   Here I may be wearing a vest, but I have found it best to wear a sweatshirt.  This way, the digging sleeve can be pulled up higher at a moments notice and then lowered if need be.

    Using guns, is a lot different, as you hardly ever have to "Go For Them", and if you do it will nt be on your knees, therefore you could be bundled up in winter gear without hindering your digging/retrieving.

    Night Digging with Lights ;  Here, things are different, not just a flashlight.  With too much direct light, the shows simply disappear, so a indirect light is beneficial.  You will see a mired of lighting here.  Some may use a small 4 legged stand with a propane lantern attached on top to locate the shows.  But then, being able to see what you are doing during the dig leaves something to be desired.   Some diggers simply work in pairs, one running the light, the other digging and then trade off for the other's limit. 

    The simplest for an individual digger is to use a large adjustable focus flashlight with a long strap tied to each end that goes over the diggers neck and hangs at a level of the lowered hand.   Here the digger has easy control of the light, shining somewhat horizontal to the beach, and yet attached to them during the digging process.  But again loosing sight of the show while digging, which can be remedied by a battery powered headlamp.   I have also seen a similar set-up but the digger using a belly mounted floodlight.   

   Locating Your Vehicle ;  Here for night digging many use a magnetic flashing flashing light sometimes seen on mail carrier's cars.   However, you may have to be inventive as other diggers may also be using the same. 

 

    For daylight digging, tie a few bright colored ribbons on your radio antenna, You will be surprised how may vehicles look just like yours as you try to walk back down the beach, and you can't remember which direction you wondered while chasing those elusive critters.

    Locating the On Ramp at Night ;  This is probably the trickiest, as if you miscalculate even by a few feet, your vehicle may become stuck in soft sand.  Following other drivers may or may not be appropriate here.  A GPS with a tracker, allowing you to locate where you entered the beach may be beneficial.  I have even thought about as I exit the ramp onto the beach to drive a flagged stake into the sand.
                                                                                    

    Razor clamming is a popular recreational activity for all ages, and it’s easy to see why.  It’s fun, it’s fulfilling to forage for and prepare your own found food, and razor clams are delicious!

    Clam seasons are set by the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, in conjunction with the Dept. of Health, which monitors for Domoic Acid.   Seasons / days are tentatively set, then verified by the DOH, whether to open or not depending on the toxic level.

 

 

     In Oregon, razor clamming is regulated by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, but they do things quite differently.  Beaches are open from the California border to Tillamook head year-round.  Beaches from Tillamook head north to the South Jetty of the Columbia River experience a seasonal closure each year from July 15 -September 30.   Beaches can be closed to all harvest in the event of a biotoxin closure, so always call the shellfish hotline at 1-800-448-2474 prior to harvest.  Clatsop beaches (Columbia River to Seaside) have the most abundant populations–95% of Oregon’s razor clam digging occurs here.

   In both states, it is illegal to discard any clam, broken shell or not, for whatever reason.  Any clam that you dig counts towards your limit of 15 clams per day.  Which means, you keep the first 15 you dig. 

   Clamming is relatively easy, all you need s a clam shovel or tube, a bucket to put your clams in (one bucket per person) and your clamming license.  Kids will especially enjoy the task of finding the “clam shows,” or the characteristic dimples, or doughnuts in the sand that indicate a submerged razor clam as seen in the photo below.  It has been thought that the bigger the show the bigger the clam, where many old time diggers will only dig the larger shows (however, most generally that is true, but not always).

 

    Many times, the clams refuse to show, so to induce them to perform this needed duty, many people may stomp very hard, walking in circles while looking behind them to see if that prompted a show.   You can also stomp using your shovel handle or gun.  Some even use a long wooden dowel or small tree, these may even tie a long cord to the stomper so that during the digging they do not have to be concerned that it may decide to run away.

 

    The worst conditions to dig (in my mind) is when it is raining, where there is water standing on the beach, even well above the common near surf areas.  You simply cannot see the shows which are still there, but covered with a layer of rainwater.  One digger said he simply stomps repeatedly in small circles, which seems to allow the water to dissipate, exposing the clam shows.

 

     Most digging is on the dry beach as seen in the photo above in the beginning of this article, however there is another twist here, and that is digging in the surf.   Here the digger, (usually wearing chest waders) will walk out into the receding water, watching for small ripples.  What is happening, is the clam is "Necking", with it's neck protruding from the sand just enough to collect food washed off the beach.  Or they will move outward a bit more into water maybe 6-8" deep, where the vision into the water is better and the digger is able to actually see the clam neck.  What is showing, looks like a small multi-fingered star.  Here the digger needs to act FAST, as getting the clam ASAP is imperative.  The issue here is SAFETY, YOUR SAFETY.  NEVER turn your back on the surf.

 

   West coast razor clam digging typically used to be done with specially designed clam shovels for MANY years.     The old standby shovels were made by True Temper and were forged metal, and are no longer made.  Later cheaper ones (still in production) were stamped, formed sheet metal, which never achieved the blade arc of the older versions.   Most older ones came with short wooden handles, because the digger would be on one knee and the need for a longer handle would be a hindrance. 

 

  These shovels were made in two shovel lengths, a long and short spade.  These long spades were 5" wide at the  rear, 3 1/2" at the bottom and the spade had a pretty good inward curve, and 11 1/4" overall length of the spade.  The short spades were about 3" shorter.  The overall length of the long shovel was 35" from the tip of the spade to the top of the handle. 

  In digging with these shovels, they are NOT used as a normal shovel fashion.  Here the digger inserts the shovel about 4" away and on the ocean side of the clam show dimple, pushes the shovel down in a slight inward arc.  Then instead of rocking it back like digging a ditch to take out the sand, he (she) lifts the shovel straight UP and possibly slightly forward, pulling out a slice of sand.  Then the second motion is another repeat of the first in the same hole, but with the front of the spade about 1 1/2" closer to the show dimple, bringing up another slice.  Depending on the depth of the clam, possibly another pass may be required, HERE the object is to, with each pass, to move closer to the clam so that the digger can feel the shovel's tip scrape the back of the clam.  At this point, disband the shovel use, and go in with your hand where the shovel spade was, find the clam and pull it out.  If you missed, or it was deeper, dive in and using your hand, pull handfuls of sand out, dive in again and do a rotational search for the little bugger.

   A slightly modified version of the above is to dig on the side of the show, go down and then reach to the side that the show was on to find the clam.   This is the usual method used by commercial diggers, ensuring non crushed clams.  This may a better way for a novice, ensuring that the clam would not be damaged.

   Clams will be positioned with their backs to the water, so when using your shovel on the seaward side, if the tip scrapes the back of the shell, it will not damage the shell because the backs are thicker at the hinge than the open fronts.

 

   If you use these long spade shovels as a NORMAL DIGGING spade, you will break the spade/blade in the middle  AND/OR also mangle the clam.  I never did figure out what usage the short blades spade was good for, unless you used for clams other than razor clams, like butter or horse clams, or possibly digging a ditch.    

  

   Since these shovels are long obsolete, and when I broke the handle of my True Temper after 70 plus years of usage, (I bought it in 1954) I almost cried, as these handles were not available anymore.  I was not about to abandon this old friend, so I made a new walnut (the wood I had on hand) handle on my metal lathe, copying the shape and length of the old one.  As these handles were contoured larger at the end and not simply a cut off long handle.

 

 

     You may see a few of these old True Temper shovels in antique stores for a outrageous price, (upwards to $150).  I keep on the lookout at yard sales for these and occasionally pick up one for $20.  I once found one for $15 and my wife asked, "Why did you pay that much for that old shovel".  The one bad thing, most diggers do not take care of their shoves after the dig, as they were not made of stainless steel then.  By this I mean, wash it off with fresh water and oil it (better yet grease it) before you put it away, even that is not the cure all.  I have seen some that are beyond repair.

    Progress ? ;  Digging changed in the 1960s with the introduction of the tube type clam gun.  Initially these were made of 4" dia. (the minimal size allowed) PVC pipe with one end capped, a Tee handle attached on that end and a small 3/8" vent hole drilled in the cap.

  From there, 4" aluminum agricultural irrigation pipe replaced the PVC, but still using the same full tube design.

 

  This "clam gun" soon became a proven tool for clamming on the US west coast.  In use, with your thumb or finger OFF the vent hole, simply push the tube down in the sand over the clam show dimple with a rocking or circular motion as you push it down.   Now block the air vent with a thumb or finger and pull up the core of sand hopefully with the clam inside.  It might take two or three tries depending on the depth of the clam.
  
  It has been found that clams tend to move toward the water when a digger starts after them, so here it may be beneficial to tilt the gun tube slightly in direction of the ocean.

 

  The size of the tube, (diameter) was upped on some to 5", for some guns, BUT this meant a bit heavier pull for the extra weight of the sand.  

  Then in 1979 a patent was applied for a clam gun with vent mechanism for easing the withdrawal from the sand, basically breaking the vacuum on the outside of the tube allowing the gun's tube full of sand to be withdrawn from the sandy beach easier.   This idea was then improved on by numerous local sheet metal shops, mostly adding (spot welding) a vent on the outside.  Then in 2019 a aluminum tubed model showed up with the 5" tube and the outside vent being extruded in all as a single piece tube.

  These tubes were then made in either aluminum, steel or stainless steel, with steel being cheaper (easier to weld) but heavier.  Those being made of stainless steel of course were more corrosive resistant, stronger and thinner, (but provided easier entry into the sand the makers advertised).  Some also went to a Nylon handle/top half and attached to a thin stainless tube.  And a lot of imported product showed up on the dealer's shelves.   Some makers work was not of the highest quality, possibly not enough personal testing, while others a lot better.  And LOTS of COPYCATS here.  Some had a guarantee of sorts.

  Prices range from $14.95 for the PVC versions up to $135.00 for the newer Nylon/Stainless Steel ones.

 

 

    Drawbacks ;  With the introduction of these TUBE GUNS, numerous diggers did not understand the amount of strain they were putting on their backs, by not using their legs to help lift on the up pull.  Some so much so that they required back surgery afterwards.   This was probably one reason for the introduction of the vent tube guns.

 

 

   Modifications ;  Being a somewhat frugal person and on a limited income, along with the amount of digging times I can participate in, I decided to install a outside vent on an existing gun that I had.  I do not have a spot welder, but got a sheet metal friend of mine to fabricate a thin outside Vee tube that I  JB Welded (Epoxied) to the outside, being very similar to like the final result of being a Big Boy's gun, but epoxied instead of metal welding. 

  My plan worked out quite well.  I had this vent made of.030" thick aluminum, with a overall width of 1.312" and a height of the Vee vent .300".   I cut this vent material to the overall length that I decided would work, laid it on the gun tube and marked around this new vent with a felt marker to locate it later.   I filed the outer edges smooth and then mixed up the epoxy, smearing it onto the "to be" inner edges of this vent tube.  With the aid of a helper, we positioned the now uncured epoxied tube in place as earlier marked.

  Now again with the aid of a helper, we secured this vent tube to the gun's tube body by using ball bungees.   With one in place on the lower end, another was placed on the upper end.  Now using my finger, I smoothed any excess epoxy down into the edge.  Then by using a paper towel soaked in lacquer thinner, I cleaned any excess off the tube.  Now add 4 more bungees, placed evenly along the entire length.   Then let it set overnight, and BINGO we had a vented clam gun.

 

  I was concerned that possibly too much epoxy would exist and be pushed inward, possibly plugging up this venting system.  So my idea was to get a 1/8" 22 caliber ramrod and after the tube was in place and before it cured to push this rod and a slight amount of cleaning patch material down inside to clear any that was possibly plugging the passage before it cured.  Of the two that I have done, one required this, while on the other, it was not needed.

 

 

 

 

   The second tube that I converted was a 5" version using the same method, but the only thing that I encountered was that these 9" bungees have to be stretched to their MAXIMUM.

   Update on the above modification.   It did not last well in usage, as the lower end (which takes al the abuse) came loose, which prompted me thoroughly clean the epoxy off, and to seek out a good aluminum welded, who worked his miracles.

 

 

 

    Observations ;  Each digger will have to decide their own method and make/model of shovel, or tube guns.  Personally at age 85 +, I can not use the guns, as I have been diagnosed with COPD and Acute Bronchitis and have a real problem breathing when being bent over, along with Arthritis in my lower back, so much so that I have a hard time digging a whole limit at one sitting using the tube.   So back to the shovel for me, where I can kneel on one knee and no bending over as with needed when using a tube/gun.

 

    However, I have been told by a longtime tube user that there is a secret to pulling it out of the sand.   He says when you get near the bottom of your initial dig, to then pull it back UP about  1", then push it down about 2" before trying the actual withdrawal,  saying this helps break the suction.   And DO NOT use your back to pull it, but, slightly squat as you go down, then using your leg muscles, to do the lifting with.

 

  With the use of these tube guns (especially the 4" models), I see many clams mutilated and left on the beach, or the digger burying them.  Not sure of the reason, unless the digger was not properly instructed as to the position of the gun over the show dimple, or simply not paying attention.  More the reason to go to the larger tube design.

   Now, for prepping to cleaning your prize, here is a tip.  Get a large pot of water boiling, (preferably outside over a propane burner).  When it is boiling, (with a limit of clams still in your nylon clam bag) dip the bag and clams into this boiling water.   This should be NO MORE than 30 seconds, but just enough to separate the shells from the body meat.   Then immediately, dip them into cold ice water to stop the "cooking", otherwise they will become tough.   Shown in the photos below are examples of this process and the results.

 

 

 

 

     Now, for a warning, it is illegal to drive on the beach below water line, however there can be little creeks that empty onto the beach and sometimes the waves do mysterious things to the sand, even on unimproved approaches as evidenced by the photo below.

 

 

 

 

    OKAY,  the above photo shows possible issues with driving to close to the surf, while in the photo below, just the opposite, where dry loose sand can trap even a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

 

 

 

 

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Originated 10-28-2019, Last updated 03-04-2025
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