Bendman,
Most of the crab were hard shell, or almost hard shell. We did catch one that was off the scale, but it was a soft shell. Luke wanted to keep it, so we did.
There are plenty of places to clam in the bay, but the open ocean beaches are closed for clamming right now. Keep in mind though, that you have to get there on a minus tide, the lower the better. We went on a -.76 tide. There is bank access under the bridge on both sides of the bay, and over by the big gas tank upstream from the Embarcadero. Get there about an hour before low tide, and clam until you get your limit or the incoming tide forces you to quit.
We had a boat, so you would want to try over by behind the Hatfield Science Center on the flats at low tide, if you have a boat. Really, anywhere in the lower bay where there is exposed sand at a minus tide, you will find some clams. You'll see others, if the tide is low enough. Go real close to the water, and look for a hole about the size of a quarter or more. Put your finger in the hole. If there is a gaper clam there, you will feel it pull away from you, or feel the suction of it pulling away from you. If you feel one pull away, dig down, and follow the hole. Gapers put their necks up to siphon salt water. Be careful digging, because they are usually one to two feet down. Keep checking the hole with your finger as you dig, because you don't want to cut the neck off, you'll loose half the meat. When you feel the neck, you are almost there. The neck will not go into the shell, but it sticks out several inches when retracted. Dig all around the clam, then work it out with your hand. Be careful not to cut the shell in half with your shovel. Also, be careful, because you will also find other clams on the way down about 1/3 of the time. We got some steamer clams and butter clams this way. Also, to find cockle clams, the ones with the "Ruffles potato chip" ridges, I just walk along in the eel grass near the water or actually in a few inches of water. When you feel something like a rock under your feet, reach down and see what it is. It will either be a rock, an empty shell, a stick, even a crab, or a clam. I kind of shuffle or drag my feet along the sand and eel grass until I feel something. Reach down and check it out. I like the cockles the best, they are the easiest to cleam in my opinion. The gapers have more meat, but the neck has a dark skin on them, that needs to come off.
To clean, you just drop the clams in boiling water a few at a time, until the shell pops open. Then drop the clam in cold water for just long enough to cool it down to touch. Then pull the clam from the shell, and clean away. I cut the stomachs open, and remove all the green stuff and stomach contents. But I keep pretty much everything else, the "lips" around the shell, the button that holds the shell together, the foot, the neck, and the whatever else parts are really good. Do a search on clamming in Oregon or clamming in Netarts, and you'll find all kinds of information.
Good luck, and let me know how you did when you find a minus tide. We clammed until we got our limit (four of us got 80 clams. The limit is 20 per person, of which not more than 12 of the 20 can be gapers also called horse necks). Then we crabbed the incoming tide but before high tide, we were blown off the water. I like to crab the incoming tide all through the high tide, if the wind cooperates.
I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. :cheers:
SKP
