Northwest Fishing Magazine October 2025 Volume 5 Issue 2 - Flipbook - Page 14
However, if you’re not a
glutton for punishment,
then there are a few
essential items you should
bring with you to the
beach. First item you’ll need
is a digging tool. The two
primary tools most often
used for digging razor
clams are the clam shovel
and the clam gun.
THE SHOVEL
A clam shovel is essentially
a trench shovel that has a
bit of a curve to the head.
Once you locate your clam
show, dig the shovel into
the sand about 6 inches
back towards the ocean
side of the hole. This part is
important, because if you
were to dig directly above
the clam, you would likely
bury your shovel into the
clam itself and damage the
shell. This leads to a dead
clam that quickly becomes
inedible. Digging on the
ocean side of the hole also
allows you to grab the razor
clam from its hinge-side as
opposed to its sharp-edged
side (hence the name razor
clam). You don’t want to
do all of your digging with
the shovel. Instead, take
2-3 scoops of sand away to
form a hole, then finish by
digging with your hands
until you can feel the clam.
From there, you’ll want to
grab hold of the clam’s shell
and rock it back and forth
till you feel it break free. If
the clam won’t break loose,
start pulling more sand
away from the sides of the
clam and then try again
at extracting it. If this all
sounds incredibly difficult,
well, that’s because it sort
of is. Using a clam shovel
is not the easiest way to
harvest these critters,
but many traditionalists
(myself included) enjoy
the challenge and the
increased sense of pursuit
that comes with a shovel.
THE CLAM GUN
The clam gun came about
once people decided that
digging with their hands
and a shovel into the cold
