Yep, today we were on the clams! Headed out with Max from Pride Fishing Tackle in Red Bank for a few hours around low tide. After getting the boat, board and rakes ready and all suited up we took the ride across river to the clam bed. As with anything, there is an art and science to raking clams. Knowing how much pressure to use, how much of an angler the rake should be at, and how to rake with just not using your arm muscles. The first few pulls didn't produce much but my highlight was a good pull that yielded 29 clams, most perfect size.
We worked a small area trying to work in rows, especially where we caught good clams. You can feel and hear them as your pull the rake backwards. In all we estimate we caught between 400-500 clams, and for the last half an hour we selected only the best and returned more than half back to the water. I invited my dad and stepmother over and grilled them and made a pretty good clams casino made of clams, Italian sweet sausage, Ritz crackers and leeks served with a shrimp and pasta marinara that my daughter made. Great dinner that went perfect with a cold beer.
NOTE - If you are looking to clam check with your local state regulations to get the license that is required. In NJ there is a recreational and commercial license with different bag limits for each. For NJ you can purchase it HERE
Here's some more pics from today -
