Sea Clamming Trip

Sea Clams (or Skimmers) are not to be confused with Quahogs, Steamer clams or any of the small clams. An adult Sea clam is 9" across and can weigh a pound. these are the large white shells you find at the ocean beach after a storm. Cape Codders used to use them for ash trays. However these are also the clams of clam pie fame and a prized addition to our seashore fare. Commercially they are gathered up from the bottom of the Bay or Ocean by large clam dragging boats. The catch is taken to commercial processing plants like the one in the Chatham Industrial Park that makes those famous clam pies. However there are a few knowledgeable old salts who will go far out on the flats and bars on the lowest moon low tides and hunt these succulent bivalves. They are found from Wellfleet to Ptown. There is some recent concern about declining numbers of Sea clams and increasing interest in the possibility of raising them in aquaculture beds. I take only 30 mature clams of 6-9" in size. I leave the smaller ones after covering them with sand so the seagulls cannot get to them before the tide returns. And it returns quickly ...rising about one foot every 30 minutes. You do not want to get trapped out on the flats with deep water in the troughs between bars on your return. The big "minus" low tides occur near sunrise or sunset. This Spring 2006 trip started at 7AM.

You need to go out to the 4th or 5th bar (1/3 to 1/2 mi.) to find Sea clam colonies. (There is another clammer in the distance.)

Brant's geese and many other birds are found on the clam bars.

These are the tools of the trip: Fish tote, bags and rake ...and a clamming license. I float and drag the clams home in the tote. There is a special way to identify the Sea clam 'hole' in the sand that you must know to find them. Then they are just a few inches down in the sand. No hard digging needed. Sometimes you will also find quahogs in the same areas as the sea clams.

Eelgrass beds are exposed at the moon low tides. These same flats are excellent striped bass haunts as the water rises to 9-12' deep at high tide. I often drift through these eelgrass beds in my boat on the higher tides casting or trolling for stripers.

Cleaning sea clams is messy work.

Sea clam parts include the "feet" (left), the "lipsand mouth" (right) and the "eyes" or adductor muscles (center). The "bellies and veils" are discarded or recycled in the garden. Sandy has a number of special recipes for the different clam parts, including , of course, sweet clam pies.

Now ...if I can only find out where to get blue mussels.

Dick Nicholson, Copyright 2006