Razor clam digging off to promising start

The coastal razor clam season is off to a great start, and diggers can now start make tentative plans to hit the beaches through the winter...

By Mark Yuasa

Seattle Times staff reporter

Reel Time Northwest

Seattle native and lifelong angler Mark Yuasa blogs on fishing in the Pacific Northwest.

Most Popular Comments

Hide / Show comments

No comments have been posted to this article.
Start the conversation >

The coastal razor clam season is off to a great start, and diggers can now start make tentative plans to hit the beaches through the winter holidays.

"We saw a lot of clam diggers, and overall there was pretty darn good success," said Dan Ayres, the head state Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish manager, about the opener last weekend. "I was at Copalis (on Saturday), and everybody had their (15-clam daily limit)."

"By Sunday, the surf kicked up and digging was tougher, although at Mocrocks most people I saw had their limits," Ayres said.

The weekend saw just shy of 16,000 diggers — 11,500 on Saturday alone — with an average of 14.1 clams a person.

The size of clams was a mixed bag, but as Ayres pointed out it wasn't the greatest low tide, so people were higher up on the beaches where the majority of smaller clams tend to be.

"At Mocrocks, there was a nice mix of 5 ½-inch clams and 4-inch clams," Ayres said. "The clams were in good shape. Overall, I was very pleased with the first digs."

Digging is open Thursday at Twin Harbors only. All digs are allowed during evening low tides only.

All dates for the remainder of the year have been set. Final approval will be made about a week before, after marine-toxin testing shows clams are safe to eat.

Other tentative openings

• Oct. 27-28 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks; Oct. 29-30 and Nov. 13-14 at Twin Harbors; Nov. 15 at Long Beach and Twin Harbors; Nov. 16-17 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks; Nov. 26-28 at Twin Harbors; Nov. 29 at Long Beach and Twin Harbors; Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks; Dec. 11-13 at Twin Harbors; Dec. 14-15 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks; Dec. 16 at Twin Harbors and Mocrocks; Dec. 28 at Twin Harbors; Dec. 29 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Mocrocks; and Dec. 30-31 at Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks.

Mark Yuasa: 206-464-8780 or myuasa@seattletimes.com


Fishing report
Location	Comment
Statewide lakes	Good for trout at Jameson Lake, 16 to 18 inches with a few up to 5 pounds. Fair for trout in Lone Lake on Whidbey Island. Good perch fishing in Lake Washington. Recent plants in local lakes: 1,800 1-pound trout in Thurston County's Black Lake, 300 half-pounders at Pierce County's Bradley Lake and more than 10,000 half-pounders in Chelan County's Lake Chelan.
Biting: Yes Rating:
Statewide rivers	All the west-side rivers were unfishable, and levels were just coming back down at midweek, but more expected rain could make it dicey. With that said, some higher-end areas like Reiter Ponds on the Skykomish was fair to good for late summer steelhead, and the Cascade was good for coho. Skagit and Snohomish had been fairly good for coho. Fair in Lower Cowlitz for coho. Fair in Kalama for chinook and steelhead. Lower Lewis was fair for coho, and try North Fork of Lewis for chinook. Slow to fair for coho in Lower Green. Hatchery steelhead fishing opened in Upper Columbia mainstem, Wenatchee, Icicle, Entiat, Methow and Okanogan. Look for chinook and coho in Humptulips, and for coho in Lower Chehalis.
Biting: Yes Rating:
Marine areas	Fair for coho and chum off Possession Bar, Edmonds, Mukilteo south to Browns Bay, Shilshole Bay south to Redondo Beach and the Tacoma area. Fair for coho, chum and chinook off Freshwater Bay, Sekiu and Port Angeles. Chinook fishing is open through Oct. 31 in central Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and from Sekiu to Port Angeles. Try squid jigging at night off Bremerton waterfront piers, Edmonds Pier and Pier 86 on the Seattle waterfront. Northern Puget Sound opens Nov. 1 for hatchery chinook. Slow for coho in Grays Harbor. No recent reports, but expect good crabbing in Puget Sound.
Biting: Yes Rating: