In the end we went with the crowd; following the Seaside diggers like sheep. …
Where Ron and Nancy Powell of Oregon City found limits of some of the largest razor clams seen in many, many years.
“These are the largest clams I’ve ever dug,” said Matt Hunter, shellfish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife charged with shepherding Oregon’s premier razor beds.
Enjoy it while you can, because the recruitment of smaller clams isn’t going as well and the coming few years may make this a “remember-when” time.
“All we have is large clams,” Hunter said. “The future is a little concerning.”
However, he added, Clatsop County beaches have never run out of clams to dig … big or small. Small clams grow quickly and next year could be OK.
Digging on Clatsop beaches accounts for the vast majority of razor clams taken annually in Oregon, but will close the evening of July 14. (Washington has already closed its razor seasons until the fall.)
Before then, however, are significant minus tide series to entice razor lovers.
A few tips:
• This time of year is spawning season for razor clams, and after spawning many simply get deeper. They don’t need to feed on plankton every day.
• Razors are seismic-sensitive and after a few or several days into a minus tide series have sensed all the foot traffic from diggers and simply lay low. It also helps to have calmer seas since razor clams can go down quickly and stay deeper when the surf pounds harder.
• Digging is usually best early in a tide series before all the diggers arrive en masse. And while a minus tide opens more area, less than a minus tide might still yield decent digging.
• Hunter said the best digging will be found off Seaside, directly out from the Promenade, although pakring there is limited. There is public parking at the west end of 12th Street, with a restroom and freshwater wash option, but the hike to the clambeds is longer.
• Or try north of the Peter Iredale shipwreck at the south end of Fort Stevens State Park. There are two parking areas in the state park, but while Area B is “an adventure” in Hunter’s words, Area A offers relatively easy access to the beach and clam beds.
Controlled hunt results: Draw results for Oregon controlled hunts of deer, elk and other big game, as well as premium hunts, will be posted Monday on the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
Results are no longer mailed to applicants, but will be available at any license sales agent or by calling the department’s Salem headquarters at 503-947-6101.
In the past, hunters have had to wait a week longer (June 20), but the department said electronic licensing has improved the system’s efficiency and eliminated cumbersome written applications.
Halibut limit expanded: Central and southern coastal anglers can keep two halibut daily beginning Monday.
In the central zone — Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain — the two-fish daily limit will apply to both the all-depth and nearshore fisheries.
In the Columbia River sub-area, June 13 and 20 have been opened in addition to Thursdays and Sundays through June (or quota reached).
Sprearfishing for bass has been approved again on the Coquille River systemBob Swingle, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Bass spearfishing: Has again opened on the Coquille River for smallmouth bass.
Spears, spear guns and angling with bait to take smallmouth bass is allowed, without a daily bag limit.
Non-native smallmouth have expanded into the mainstem Coquille and the East, Middle, North and South forks. In the South Fork, the regulation applies from the mouth to the U.S. Forest Service boundary near Powers.
Biologists want to reduce the impacts of bass on fall chinook salmon juveniles. Bass are blamed for the lack of recovery of fall chinook throughout the system as well as taking a toll on Pacific Lamprey.
Coast river fall chinook fishing: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will host a webinar Wednesday to review potential regulations for fall chinook fishing along the Oregon Coast and nearshore waters off their estuaries.
The webinar will be available at: https://myodfw.com/articles/fall-coastal-salmon-management
Questions for department biologists can be submitted to: https://odfw.wufoo.com/forms/2023-fall-coastal-salmon-seasons/
Several chinook populations have declined along the Oregon coast and a sharp drop of fall chinook in California has already shut down fishing from Oregon ports.
Further, a strong El Nino is developing in the Pacific, which doesn’t bode well for salmon coastwide.
Department biologists will present outlooks for each basin and discuss alternatives for regulations.
— Bill Monroe for The Oregonian/OregonLive