"I want to go clamming!"

It's summertime and it's hot! Some days it's just nice to get out in the water and do something different. Sometimes

clamming is productive and sometimes not, depending upon where you go and if you have a boat. If you have a boat, you

have the huge advantage of being able to get to the bars in the middle of the bay where lots of clams are around. If you

are clamming from the shore, you may not get as many because you will be competing with others that are clamming in the

same places. No matter what, it is fun, good exercise and can be quite rewarding.

"I don't have a boat. Where can I go from the shore?"

There are not too many places to clam from the shore in Ocean City. One of the most popular areas is to go behind

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. Be sure to wait until the tide gets low, as clamming on a high tide may cool you down

when you get in the water, but you won't catch many clams!

The National Park on Assateague Island has are 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 $5 to get inside the park. You will see the

signs for the parking areas that have little clams drawn on them. Just remember that you are in a marshy environment and

that the flies and mosquitoes can be bad, especially on a west wind. Always take your bug spray when clamming on

Assateague.

The State Park on Assateague Island also has clamming but it involves a serious 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.) Clamming has always been good here

and is probably worth the walk. You could also get someone to drop you off. Besides clamming on Assateague, you will get

a good view of the wild ponies. Just watch out for the.!

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 is

Route 26. Go West on Route 26 and go through Ocean View and Millville. The next town is Clarksville.  Follow the signs

for Holt's Landing. Holt's Landing is on the Indian River Bay, so you need to abide by Delaware rules. Out of state

clammers are allowed to keep 50 clams per person in Delaware. Delaware residents are allowed to keep 100.  (In Maryland

clammers are allowed to keep 250 clams per person 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. (If you have a boat and can clam

from the bars near the South Shore Marina in the Indian River Bay you will always do good.)  Some clammers clam behind

the VFW off Route 26, but you need to be a member to park there.

Other clammers go around the Cape Henelopen Pier, which is in the Delaware Seashore State Park in Rehoboth so you have

to pay your $5 to get inside of the Park. The Pier actually juts out into the Delaware Bay. There's a lot of activity

around here in the summer, but there are some clams as well.

"I have a boat. Where can I go clamming?"

Many people go in the bay behind Assateague and clam. There are clams on most of the bars from buoy #10 to beyond the

Bridge that goes to Assateague.  Most of the dry sand bars behind Assateague are "bird sanctuaries" so you will have to

anchor your boat in shallow water and clam.

One of the best areas in Ocean City for good clamming is the sand bar directly offshore of Bahia Marina at 22nd Street.

Many vacationers rent a small boat at Bahia Marina just to go clamming here. Some people have been known to take a

rubber boat or kayak to this bar.  It's not far from land, but no, you can't walk to it!

There are also clams on the northwest side of the big sand bar just north of the Route 50 Bridge. (Stay offshore of the

"bird sanctuary" signs.)  You will also find clams on the bar just east of Sneaky Pete's Bar and Restaurant just north

of the Route 50 Bridge on the west side of the bay.  This is another area you can get to easily with a kayak or rubber

boat.

"How do you clam?"

To clam, all you need is a clam rake to dig for the clams and a container to put the clams in.  You can buy floating

clam bags, or make one out of an inflatable ring and a bushel or peach basket.  You can use a plastic laundry basket or

even a string beach bag!

Dig or drag your clam rake over the bottom floor and listen for a "clink" sound.  Stop and dig up the clam.  Once you

find one clam there are usually more around.  If the water is clear or you are on top of a sandbar, looks for "key

holes" in the sand.  These look like elongated "worm holes."  Once you get good at finding clams by raking over these

"key holes" you will become a productive clammer!

Be sure to clam at low tide.  You will be able to see the "key holes" more readily when the tide just starts to come in.

They will even blow out water and look like "steam" underneath the water when you step close to a hole.  Sometimes on

the outgoing tide, the "key hole" will not be very pronounced and sometimes will simply look like a black spot.

Check out all the potential looking clam signs and soon you will learn to "read" them. Clams tend to be found on edges

of bars or where the depth of the sand bar changes by an inch or two. That's where they fall while they are moving on a

tide. Where you find one clam, you will usually find more.

Once you catch your clams, rinse all the mud or sand off the clams and purge them in fresh salt water for a couple hours

to get any sand or grit out of them.

The larger chowder clams are tougher than the smaller "cherrystone" clams. The smaller clams can be steamed until they

open and eaten with butter and lemon along with a little Old Bay. The larger "chowder" clams need to be opened, and

chopped or ground to make Clam Chowder, Clam Fritters, Stuffed Clams, or Fried Clams.

Good clamming.