“I want to go clamming! Where do I go and how do I do it in Ocean City, MD?”



It’s hot and vacationers like to get into the water and go clamming.
Anglers with boats have the best advantage because they can get out into the
bay where the sand bars are. There’s a good amount of clams out there if you
go to the right places.



In Ocean City, the big bar just north of the Route 50 Bridge has plenty of
clams on the north and northwest side of it. There are hardly any clams at
all on the south and southeast side of it, so don’t waste too much time
looking around there. Lots of people call this island Bird Island because
it is also a bird sanctuary. There are signs around the perimeter of the
island that warn you to stay away from the nesting birds. So you need to
anchor your boat away from the island and wade in the water for the clams.



The best way to get to the island is this: Traveling north in the east
channel, turn left at the northern most end of the island and u-turn around
the inside of the island. It’s deep right next to the land there. It’s like
a small channel. Then carefully ease towards the sandy beach until you
decide you are in shallow enough to jump out and anchor the boat. Watch your
tide!



If the tide is still going out, you can get “high and dry” while clamming.
If the tide is coming in, you may have to swim to get back to your boat!



“When is the best time to clam?”



Low tide of course! More of the bars are exposed and you can wade in water
from two or three inches to three or four feet and dig for clams. You don’t
have to go at “exactly” low tide. Go a couple hours before low tide and
clam through a couple hours after low tide for the best results.



“Can you see clams?”



Yes! Well, not all the time… But sometimes, if you have a very keen eye,
you can actually “sign” the clams. Clams bury in the sand. When they feed,
two siphons stick up above the surface. They strain the water through one
siphon and they eject unused particles periodically though the second
siphon. This makes total sense, because the “old timers” that “sign” clams
say the clam holes look like “key holes.”



I’ve walked all over an island during the last of the outgoing tide and only
see a few clam “signs” then miraculously as the tide starts to come in, you
can see clam “signs” everywhere.



I like to walk in water where I can still see the bottom and look for the
“signs” of clams. When you do this, walk through the water so the tide takes
the dirty “stirred up” water away from you so you can continue to see the
bottom clearly. Look for the “keyholes” visually. Sometimes they are more
pronounced than at other times. At times, the keyholes are very faint, and
look like a “dent” in the sand. At other times, when you step near an
underwater clam, you can see a rush of water and sand blowing from the
bottom floor. That’s a clam! Dig down with your fingers, clam rake, a
little shovel, or even a knife. Some people feel them with their feet!
Clams in the summer, are not down deep, only a half-inch to two inches.



Clams are harder to see when the tide is still going out. Sometimes I have
found them by looking for black spots. Black spots?! Yes, they have
filtered earlier on another tide, but the dark sand below was “spit out” and
lays on top of the lighter sand at the surface.



“I see a big round hole, but nothing is in it!”



Well, there are all kinds of holes in the sand. There are worm holes and
razor clam holes as well. Razor clams on the east coast are actually
Atlantic jackknife clams. They also make a keyhole-shaped hole in the sand.
It squirts a jet of water when you walk by it and digs down fast and deep.
They are faster than most clammers so they are difficult to catch. They are
supposed to be good to eat, but the couple times I’ve tried them, I’ve found
them to be gritty. Probably need to purge them longer than hard clams….



Purging????



Oh yes. Especially if you catch the clams on an incoming tide when they are
feeding, their bodies can have sand in them. If you wash them off, and keep
them in a bucket of clean salt water while you are clamming/fishing they
will continue to filter themselves and get rid of the excess sand or mud.
(You can see it in the bottom of the bucket!) If you take them home, and
want to purge them more, you can put them in salted water with some cornmeal
in it. If you do that, you want to eat them the same day as it can weaken
them if left in a refridge for several days.



Back to clamming…. Clams are like fish. They tend to be found at slight
changes of bottom. An incline, and a little dip in the bottom floor… Also,
just like fish, if you find one, there’s often more!



“I want to go out in the water and dig with the clam rake!”



Some days this is the best method. More work, but productive if you get on
the clams. I drag the clamming rake behind me, and wait until I hear a
“clink.” Then I dig down. Like I said, where you find one, there are more,
so once you find a couple, dig in that area. If you are way out in the
water, you can put the clams in your pocket, throw them in the boat, carry a
mesh bag with you such as a nylon beach bag, or buy a floating live well
with a Styro-ring that holds up a mesh bag. You can fashion an blowup type
ring or "noodle" around a basket… I’ve seen people throw them in a little
blowup boat! You can drill holes in a 5-gallon bucket and sink it to the
bottom. Or carry out a plastic laundry basket and sink it. You can make one
of the kids a “runner” and periodically take them back to the boat and place
in a bucket of salt water.



“Where else can we clam?”



There’s a pretty good clam bed just offshore of Bahia Marina at 22nd Street.
That’s also a good place to rent a boat if you decide to rent a boat to go
clamming. There are some clams just offshore of Hooper’s Crab House on the
Western shore just northwest of the Route 50 Bridge.



Behind Assateague, on the south western side of the Verrazano Bridge is good
for digging. (The water clarity here is not much for signing!) There are
clams on most of the bars from buoy #10 to beyond the Verrazano Bridge. All
of the dry sand bars behind Assateague are "bird sanctuaries" so you will
have toanchor your boat in shallow water and clam.

Where can we go without a
boat?

Convention Hall at 41st Street. When it gets low tide, you can walk
out quite far here. Some clammers say to walk to the right, and work the area
there.

The National Park on Assateague Island has two clamming areas
inside the Park. Travel down Route 611 to Assasteague, make a right and go
into the National Park. You have to pay to get inside the park. You will see
thesigns for the parking areas that have little clams drawn on them. The
State Park on Assateague Island also has clamming but it involves a walk.
You have to park in the parking lot on the west side of the Bridge going
into Assateague and walk over the Bridge and clam on the east side
(Sorry,there's no parking on the east side and clamming is not allowed on
the west side.) On a west wind, take bug spray!!!

Holt's Landing in the
Delaware Seashore State Park is an excellent place to go clamming. It is a
little out of the way,but it is a really nice place to go. To get there, go
to Bethany and make a left at the "big wooden Indian." This isRoute 26. Go
West on Route 26 and go through Ocean View and Millville. The next town is
Clarksville. Follow the signsfor Holt's Landing. Holt's Landing is on the
Indian River Bay, so you need to abide by Delaware rules. Out of
stateclammers are allowed to keep 50 clams per person in Delaware. Delaware
residents are allowed to keep 100. 1.5” wide. Plus in DE you need a fishing
license to clam. (In Marylandclammers are allowed to keep 250 clams per
person one inch “transverse” which means “across”) whether you are in or
out-of-state.)

Some people like to clam near the Indian River Inlet. They
park on the side of the road on the South side of the Indian River Bridge and
walk across the marsh. This is very good clamming, but quite a trek.


Clamming in Ocean City, MD is a lot of fun, but be careful. Know where you are walking if you
can’t swim. Wear footwear. And spray your legs with bug spray and suntan
lotion if you are in hot, shallow water. And wash off in a shower when you
come in. There are certain “mites” that can break some people out (like me)
on the sand bars and give you bites like chiggers. The combination bug spray
and suntan lotion works for me! I love clamming!

Good clamming… 

Need bait and tackle? Come see us at Oyster Bay Tackle, Ocean City, Maryland (410-524-3433) or Fenwick Tackle, Fenwick Island, Delaware (302-539-7766), OR Shop Online!