Taking a break from spring wildflowers to post a clamming photo from two weekends ago. This was only our second trip clamming at Long Beach; the first time wasn't nearly this crowded. This time happened to be the last open weekend of the season, coinciding with a clamming festival, plus an increase in max harvest from 15 to 25 clams per person. So the beach ended up crowded like a sunny summer day. We thought it would be a good idea to go during the festival because there was going to be a clamming demonstration (and we weren't that good at it the first time, so we needed some instruction!) We never saw the festival demonstration though. We didn't need it with so many demonstrations going on along the beach. I'm happy to say we had success, although not nearly as much as the locals. They all have a mesh bag hanging off their waist to hold their clams, so it's real easy to see how many clams someone has found. The tool involved is called a clam gun. It's not really a gun, just a hollow tube with handles. Once you spot a clam (and this is usually a dimple in the sand that develops when you stomp or pound around), then you push the clam gun deep into the sand and pull it back out, extracting a tube of sand that you sift through, and hopefully find a razor clam inside. It's a bit of work, especially on a crowded day like this when the beach is picked-over. But the clams are so tasty, and it's fun to work for your supper like that!
