THE MONTH OF May has provided a great introduction to the North Olympic Peninsula for a new outdoors columnist.
But the many openings cause some to get overlooked.
For example, the clams and oyster openings.
We’ve discussed the final razor clam dig of the season throughout the last month, but razors are just one of the many clams found on the Peninsula.
One of the most prominent is the geoduck.
I hear harvesting these is part of being a true Pacific Northwesterner.
Geoducks have an oblong shell and a neck-like siphon so big it cannot be pulled into the shell.
The average geoduck caught on the public beaches of the Puget Sound weighs 2.47 pounds, but they can weigh as much as 10 pounds.
For those unfamiliar with the clam game, geoduck is pronounced “gooey-duck.”
The Native American name means “dig deep,” because geoducks are found two to three feet below the surface.
This digging deep takes a physical toll on a harvester.
“You have to prepare yourself for geoducks,” Ward Norden, a fishing tackle wholesaler and former fishery biologist, said.
“If you get some geoduck, you earned them,” Norden said.
Most geoducks are exposed only during low tides of minus 2.0 feet or below.
Here are the other clams found throughout the Peninsula:
■ Horse clams
Shell: Chalky white shell with yellow-brown patches.
Found: One to two feet below the surface.
■ Eastern soft shells
Shell: Chalky-white with a rough, irregular surface; rounded at the foot end and pointed at the siphon end.
Size: Up to six inches.
Found: 18 inches below the surface.
■ Manila clams
Shells: Oblong with concentric and radiating lines; often colored and patterned.
Size: One to two inches, up to 2.5 inches.
Found: Up to 4 inches below surface.
■ Native littleneck clams
Shells: Rounded with concentric and radiating lines.
Size: One to two inches, up to 2.5 inches.
Found: Six to 10 inches below surface.
■ Cockles
Shells: Light brown with prominent ridges that fan out from the hinge.
Size: Up to 5 inches
Found: Just below the surface.
■ Butter clams
Shells: Chalky-white, no radiating ridges.
Size: Average three to four inches, but can be as big as 6 inches.
Found: 12 to 18 inches below surface.
It is important to note that manila clams, native littleneck clams, cockles and butter clams have a 1.5-inch minimum size limit on most beaches.
There are also two kind of oysters found on the Peninsula:
■ Pacific oysters
Shells: Fluted, irregular, chalky-white or gray.
Size: Up to 12 inches.
Found: Firm or rocky beaches intertidally to 20 feet.
■ Olympia oysters
Shells: Irregular to oval shaped with a gray exterior and white or iridescent interior.
Size: Up to 3.5 inches.
Found: Mud-gravel flats and in tide pools with fresh water seepage in intertidal zones to a depths of 165 feet.
Where to go
Now that you know what you’re digging for, you can head to the following beaches to harvest clams and oysters:
■ Dosewallips State Park
Location: Just south of Brinnon off U.S. Highway 101.
Shellfish: Manila, littleneck and geoduck clams; oysters.
■ Duckabush
Location: A few miles south of Brinnon off U.S. Highway 101.
Shellfish: Most clams, especially manila; geoducks.
■ Quilcene Bay Tidelands
Location: East of Quilcene off Linger Longer Road.
Shellfish: Manila and small clams (minimum size is 1.25 inches); oysters.
■ Oak Bay County Park
Location: Southeast of Port Hadlock/Irondale off Oak Bay Road.
Shellfish: Cockles, native littleneck, manila and geoducks (currently closed to butter clam harvest).
■ Fort Flagler State Park
Location: Northern tip of Marrowstone Island.
Shellfish: Native littleneck, horse clams and geoducks (currently closed to butter clam harvest).
■ Sequim Bay State Park
Location: Four miles east of Sequim off U.S. Highway 101.
Shellfish: Native littleneck clams (currently closed to butter clam harvest) and oysters.
■ Pillar Point County Park
Location: East of Clallam Bay/Sekiu off Highway 112 near the mouth of Pysht River.
Shellfish: Littleneck clams.
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Outdoors columnist Lee Horton appears here Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at lee.horton@peninsuladailynews.com.
