"Where can I go clamming around here? How do you do it?"

Clamming is fun in the heat of the summer because you can get in the water
and cool down on a hot summer's day. But clamming is also one of those
activities you can do all winter long if you own a pair of chest waders.
It is a relatively inexpensive thing to do and one can get some very good
exercise digging clams. You can go about it vigorously, or you can do it
the "lazy man's" way.

"What is the "lazy man's way?"

Most people go out into the bay up to their waists in water and start
"blind digging" with a clam rake bought or rented at a local tackle store.
The clammer digs down about two inches and rakes up anything hard that may
be a clam. An easy technique to use, since clams are rarely over half an
inch under the sand or mud, is to walk along with the heavy clam rake behind
you and let the tines drag across the bottom. When you hear a "clink" stop
and see if it is a clam or merely a shell or stone. Keep in mind that when
you find one clam, you may find several more. When you find some, you can
then go about it more vigorously!

"I've heard of signing. What is that?"

This is actually using your site to find the clams and then digging down
for them with your rake. You can use your fingers but be careful of sharp
shells or glass. To site clams, you need to be in wet sand or walk along in
shallow water that is clear so you can see the bottom. If you are walking
along in the water, make sure the current is taking the stirred up mud away
from you. If it is drifting back in front of you, change directions!

Look for holes in the sand or mud that look like a "key hole" in a door
lock. These "key holes" are actually where the clam is filtering water and
is blowing the filtered water up through the sand or mud. These holes are
much more pronounced when the tide starts to come in. Thus, clamming this
way is best on the low incoming tide. When the tide is low, but still going
out, these holes will not be quite as pronounced so you must look carefully.
Try digging down at different looking holes until you get a "feel" for what
is a clam hole and what is not. When you go fishing, you will find that
fish do not bite the same way every day. When you go clamming, you will
find that the clam holes do not always look the same. They change with tide,
location, and conditions on the bottom.

Big clams actually blow sand out when filtering water on an incoming tide.
Look carefully at the bottom floor in shallow water and you may actually see
something that looks like clam "spitting at you." It looks like a little
stack of smoke beneath the water. Dig there; it's a clam.

Sometimes on a low outgoing tide, there will be no hole at all, just a
black spot where the clam has filtered water earlier, and left a black spot
that is the darker mud below the sand. Some people get very good at finding
clam holes and never have to "blind dig."

"How do I know where to go?"

If you have a boat, you can find lots of clams in the Ocean City area.
The big sand bar just offshore of Bahia Marina at 22nd Street is excellent
for clamming. If you are renting a boat at Bahia Marina, go right there.
Just north of the Rt. 50 Bridge, you will find clams on the north west side
of the huge sand bar there. Stay offshore of the "bird sanctuary" signs.

If you travel into the narrow west channel towards the Rt. 50 Bridge you
will see the little gazebo bar called "Sneaky Pete's." There are clams on
that sandbar right in front and a little north of the restaurant. The
northern end of that bar seems to hold the most clams.

The bay behind Assateague holds lots of clams. From the big bar near buoy
#13 down towards the Bridge going to Assateague and on down south of the
Verrazano Bridge offshore produces lots of clams.

"I don't have a boat and don't want to rent one."


Starting from the North, you can go to "Holt's Landing" which is a very
good clamming area. It is part of the Delaware Seashore State Park and is
located off Rt. 26. You go north into Delaware to Bethany and make a left
on Rt. 26. Follow the signs. You make a right in Clarksville and follow
the signs. Visit the Fenwick-Bethany Chamber of Commerce to get a map before
finding this area as it does involve a little trip into the country. (You
can also clam around the Cape Henelopen Pier in Rehoboth.)

Some people clam just south of the Indian River Inlet, but you must park on
the side of the road and walk across the marsh.

In Ocean City, people find clams in the bars just offshore of Convention
Hall at 41st Street. At low tide, you can cover quite a bit of territory.
Vacationers say they are having the best luck walking north once in the
water. Of course, you can walk out across the marsh at any location, but be
careful.

There are three clamming areas on Assateague. The first one is in the
state park. One has to park on the west side of the bridge and walk over
the bridge and clam on the east side. There is no parking on the east side
and that's where the clams are! (What many people do is get someone to
drive them across and drop them and the clam rakes off.)

The other two clamming areas are in the National Park. After crossing over
the Bridge going into Assateague, take a right and go to the National Park.
Pay $5 to get into the park, and you will see the two areas for clamming.

When you are walking out into the water looking for clams, you will find,
that just like fish, clams tend to congregate on little changes of bottom
depth. A dip in the sand bar, a little edge of a drop off, a little hill
and then a gully, could produce clams. Think about the tide rushing in on
the high tide with the clams moving along. Suddenly they come to an edge of
a sand bar, and drop and fall to the bottom and dig in. At low tide, this
can all be exposed.

"What kind of clam rake should I buy?"

My favorite clam rake is the Down East brand clam rake because it has sharp
tines that dig into the sand easily. Some people like the basket types of
rakes so the little clams won't fall out. Others like a three-piece clam
rake so they can transport it in their car. Quite a few vacationers simply
rent their clam rakes as they can be bulky to transport.

When you get your clams, you can put them in a bucket, basket, floating
clam basket, or even a nylon mesh beach bag with a string. I have found a
product called a Flo-Well which is made out of a heavy nylon bag, a
Styrofoam ring, a drawstring, and a rope. You can tie the rope around your
middle and drag the bait well along behind you when you are clamming.
Simply toss in the clams as you catch them. Others make a "clam float" out
of a floating ring and a bushel basket.

Always wash your clams off, and when you are done clamming, let them sit in
a bucket of salt water for an hour or so to purge any sand out of them.
(You can use fresh water with some salt added when you come home. Some
people add corn meal as well.)

Clamming is fun and something to do at low tide when fishing is slow.

Good fishing and clamming.