$35 – $60 sliding scale, children pay their age, see details.
Netarts, Oregon. Learn how to find, dig, transport, clean, and prepare butter, steamer, and gaper clams during one of the lowest tides this year. Learn gathering regulations, limits and the modern tools used to dig them. The times we meet are dictated by when the tides are low enough to for us to reach the clams. End time is just an estimate.
Each person should bring a 2025 Oregon Recreational Shellfish License – Read about licenses below. A license is mandatory for anyone 12 or older! If you have one, bring either a clam gun or a SMALL NARROW garden shovel (NOT a huge farmer’s manure shovel; your goal is to make a quick deep narrow precise hole, not move huge amounts of earth). The narrower, the better.
Digging Tools:
Best, but most expensive: Clam gun with vacuum release valve ($80-$150).
They are much easier on your back, more efficiently bring up solid shafts of the sand, faster at digging, and are better environmentally for the clam beds. They are also the most expensive, but well worth it if you end up clamming on a regular basis. Clam Guns with Vacuum release are difficult to find in retail stores even if you are at the coast. All are available online. There are three types of clam guns I know of with vacuum release tubes varying in quality and features. They are the Claminator, the Clam Hawk and the Clam Vac. I use the Claminator, since I clam regularly, and it’s design is better suited for digging butter and gaper bay clams then the others in sand or muck. They are also great for razors. Go here for more information about vacuum release clam guns.
Good and least expensive: Spade shovel ($20-$30)
Many people have these already or can borrow one. You can also bring a regular shovel just to try it, if that is all you have or can borrow. Bring whatever is handy. The goal is to dig deep and narrow holes – to move as little sand as possible. Big fat shovels are bad since they force you to move much more sand then necessary and therefore kill a lot of other organisms, including baby clams living in the sand.
DO NOT:
1) Buy a special “clamming” shovel just for this event. They are designed for razor clamming experts and work great for that. While they are great to dig for these clams too, the narrow flat-bladed spade shovel I’m recommending is cheaper and does a good job. If you already own a razor clam shovel, it is a great choice, bring it.
2) Buy a standard cheap clam gun. They do not have a vacuum release so are very ineffective in the bays. They can work fine for razor clams depending on conditions, but NOT for the bay clams we are digging for. A narrow bladed shovel is better than a cheap clam gun.
3) Bring toy shovels, gardening hand trowels, short survival shovels, or big fat manure shovels. Toy hand shovels or gardening hand trowels are only good for infants that are playing in the sand, not clamming.
Note: Shovels can be dangerous to carry around groups, so please pack and handle them with care! Prepare for variable coastal weather! While we hope to go through water at only foot level, depending on Mother Nature, you may have to wade through thigh high water, slog through muck up to your ankles, and climb over hillsides. It is all in a day’s adventure!
Recreational Shellfish Licenses are now required for anyone 12 and over to collect shellfish in Oregon. In-state licenses are $10/year, Out of state licenses are $19 for 3 days or $28/year. 3-Day licenses must specify the days you intend to do the collecting. You must carry the License with you during the workshop (in a phone app or a printed copy) or you will only be allowed to watch. If shellfish are found in your possession on the beach and you do not have a license, the fine is $80 and up. Licenses should be purchased “PRIOR” to our events by going to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife web site. DO NOT wait until the last minute! Here is how to do it:
Go to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife web site Or you may be able to do the whole thing from your phone from their “MyODFW” app. I have not tried the phone app route to pay so the directions here are only how to do it on your computer.
Wait until after January 2 of the workshop year of the workshop you register for.
If you are new, press: “Create an Account Today”
Create a user name & password – Record them since you will use the same account every year when purchasing a license or to open the app.
If you already have a digital account, press: “Verify/Look up your Account”
Follow the prompts.
Once an account is created click, “Purchase From the Catalog”
Type “Annual Shellfish License” in the search bar.
Click “Add” to add it to your cart. Then go to your cart to purchase.
When done, the license will be added to your, “Recreational Portfolio” for 2024. It is good until December 31 of the year you buy it.
Print out or save a pdf copy to your computer.
On your phone go to your APP Store and search for “MyODFW”. Add it to your phone apps. Load in your user name and password and it will display your license. Then if you are ever stopped by the coastal authorities you can just pull up the app.
If you have trouble understanding the process, the licensing office number is: 503-947-6101
For more information:
Call the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6000.
General Clamming Information: Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Shellfish Regulations & Limits: Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Meet us in Tillamook at the NW corner of the Safeway Parking lot adjacent to Stillwell Ave and 3rd street: Be there before 9:00am and wait patiently – see map. The Safeway typically opens by 5am, so go into their bathroom and empty your bladder prior to our arrival (force yourself – it’s the last chance you will have for almost 3 hours). Don’t park in the surrounding streets. Wait patiently in the parking lot in case we get delayed, get to know the other participants, read a book, change into your beach cloths and shoes. We’ll swing by soon to pick you up and proceed on to the workshop site. You must be there when we arrive or you will miss us. Make sure we have your cell phone number if you have one (in case of an emergency)! Program our number 503-775-3828 into your cell phone. But note that cell phone service in the coast range is almost non-existent so anyone, including the instructor, cannot be reached while traveling there. Ocean low tide is estimated to be around 9:50am for this date.
If you need a ride to the coast, or prefer carpooling or caravanning, give us a call. If carpooling is arranged expect to give $10 to the driver to help pay for fuel.
Sliding Scale Economics
Due to hard economic times for some, sliding scales are offered to support individual financial circumstances. We ask participants to pay what they feel they can afford within the range offered for each workshop. You decide what to pay using an honest assessment of your individual circumstances. We do not ask anyone to explain their very personal decision. The high end is a very reasonable price for these quality workshops for those who are doing well in this economy. Groups must contact us for circumstance-specific rates. Rendezvous have their own rates.
Discounts
$5 Discounts are available on our Registration Form for adult family members that attend together, persons identifying as indigenous, full time college students and scout leaders. Children (17 and under) must be accompanied by their parent(s). Children under 7 are free. Children 7 and above pay their age. Classrooms and teachers with students are not eligible for these discounts and must contact us for circumstance-specific rates. Rendezvous have their own rates.
Refund & Transfer Policies
If you cannot attend a workshop you registered for, and you contact us immediately, or at the latest, the last weekday before the event, you are entitled to a transfer or refund minus a $5 processing fee. If you do not show up the day of a workshop you registered for, you forfeit the full amount paid.
Enrollment Limited! – Advanced registration reserves you a place in the workshop. Walk-ons may be turned away if our size limit is reached. When registering by mail, assume a workshop is open unless you see a “FULL” notice posted above.
Registration
Download the REGISTRATION and WAIVER Forms. Print and fill out these forms and mail them with payment to: Wild Food Adventures, 422 SE 49th Ave, Portland, OR 97215. If there is space and your are a walk-on, bring the forms and payment with you. While you can register many times throughout the year, only a single waiver form is required per person per year (Jan 1 – Dec 31) for all our day events. Multi-day Rendezvous require an additional waiver.
Due to warming oceans, red tides have become more frequent. For the first time in 30 years (so it is rare) the whole coast was closed for about a month in 2024 to any clamming. If a major closure happens during the date of this event, we would have to cancel it. Any time we have to cancel an event, it is a huge inconvenience to all of us. A cancelled clamming workshop costs Wild Food Adventures up to two thousand dollars in time, advertising, bookkeeping, management, license fees, and refunds. It could also cost you, even if I refund all your money. If you decide to rent nearby lodging at the coast, incur travel or other expenses, or plan with other people, we cannot reimburse you or make up for any change in your plans. If we have to cancel, the only thing you can do is make the best of whatever plans you already made.