July 25, 2004—Coos Bay, OR, Clamming 101; or how to load up the freezer!
One of our favorite pastimes (and culinary treats) is catching seafood from the bountiful Oregon coast. We made reservations for Midway RV Park, where we lived for nine months (a year ago) to be close to the clamming beach. If you plan to spend time in the area there’s not a better choice of RV park. The owner, Mike, goes out of his way to insure the comforts of his guests, constantly improving the park (now featuring wifi Internet) and his staff keeps it absolutely immaculate.
The weather has been great during our stay; cool sunny days or cool foggy ones, while the rest of Oregon swelters in 100 degree temperatures. A picnic to the beach was a perfect way to spend an afternoon as we sat at a table and people watched.
Sunset Bay State Park
On our way back to camp, we decided to find some fresh tuna at the Charleston Marina. We were in luck; the Faith II was in port with her hold bursting with small albacores. One of her crew members can be seen cutting up the fish for those who didn’t wish to do it themselves. Fresh tuna is going for $l.50 a lb. this season.
Charleston marina Tuna boat
Crew fillets tuna The skin comes off It's cut into chunks
The salmon are also running. Every day, lots of small boats go to the entrance of the harbor. Our camp manager Tom was kind enough to give us a beautiful silver salmon he had just caught! Many people don’t realize that Coos Bay is actually an international port and consistently has large container ships from Korea and Japan visit to pick up wood chips and logged trees.
Harbor entrance and salmon fishing Tom, park manager and his 45# fish
Marc's mooch Wood chip ship
Every time we’re here, word has kind of spread that Marc is the Clam Master and we many times have people ask to be shown how to do it or if they can go out with us. This visit has been no exception, and we made some great new friends. After a morning of clamming lessons, we also took these two couples out crabbing from the Charleston pier (we don’t have our boat with us this trip). They treated us to wonderful homemade pasta with clam sauce, Dungeness, French bread and California wines for a great evening of camaraderie. Here’s to a continuing friendship down the road, as these folks plan on getting more involved with the RV lifestyle. Good luck to Bill, Nancy, Randy, and Debbie and we hope to see you again soon!
New friends
So, what’s the secret to our success as clammers? First of all, it’s very hard work! More than what many people want to do apparently, as we’ve never had the same couple go out twice. What follows are the basic steps involved. The bay here yields three types of clams—cockles, the shallowest and smallest of clams; Martha Washington’s, a mid size clam good for chowder, and the large Empires, also known as horse necks. These can run as large as a coke can and are the most work since they are typically down at least 12-18 inches. These clams have diggers but essentially spend their lives in the same spot, so they don’t “run” from you as you are digging, like a razor clam.
How's this for a clam?
First we take the secret pathway to the beach. Minus tides work best but it’s also possible to clam on any low tide. The bay is shallow in this section, covered in muck and mud and sea grass. Boots are a necessity. This isn’t sand beach clamming! I sometimes spot for Marc, while he does the majority of the digging. Our secret is using the stick method. At least, we used to use a stick, until our new friend Randy showed up with an arrow. We now find that works better, so thanks for the new method Randy! Even an old dog can learn something new. Depending upon the type of clam we are after, the telltale holes look different and are different sizes. A stick down the hole will follow the clam’s neck as it is retracted and by following it down you are led directly to where the clam lies. Digging right next to the stick will yield the prize. Rarely are we fooled.
Tide is out The secret path Marc heading for clamming
Sea grass and muck Marc finds the clam Marc digging the clam
Once back at camp, after the long walk back with buckets weighing about 15-20#, Marc immediately rinses and starts shelling the clams. After shelling, the next step is to cut out the stomach, which we discard, cut off the very tip of the necks and then slit the necks open. Marc also harvests the muscle which holds the shell closed as this is a very tender nugget. Another rinse and they are ready to take inside for further processing. This involves meticulous rinsing and then the horse neck clams need skinning. They are pretty gross looking buggers at this point. There are several favored methods to accomplish this; we prefer parboiling for 15 seconds which usually softens the skin enough to allow peeling it off. It can still be an arduous, time consuming process. At that point they are ready for freezing. From digging to freezing takes approximately three to four hours. You can imagine us doing this day after day and see why we claim it is a lot of work! For us, however, it’s well worth it, as we’ll sit later this winter in the Arizona desert making fresh clam chowder or those deep fried horse necks!
One morning's catch Marc starts to shell Shelling the Martha Washington
Martha Washington shelled Horse neck shelled Cutting off the stomachs
We’re here until the 29th and then it’s back to Bend for final preparations for our late summer travels. Between the tuna, the clams, the fresh salmon and smoked salmon several friends have given us, our freezer is now stuffed. Mission accomplished!
