Posted by Wayne on January 06, 2001 at 11:45:03:
In Reply to: Diving for Clams posted by Gelpi on January 06, 2001 at 10:35:49:
They are easy to get on scuba. A long time ago my wife and I went camping in Pismo and tried that pitchfork thing and came away with nothing but frustration. We saw people all around us tossing the short ones so they just washed up on shore. Being avid campers with all necessary camping equipment, we just happened to have our scuba gear in the car(No camper should be without it). So we went out diving for the clams. My wife got the clams and I carried the game bag. The technique that we liked the best was not to look for them. While we could see their "button" on the surface of the sand, it was easier to swim along the bottom with a dive knife stuck in the sand (knives were biger then) and plow through the sand between the naturally occuring furrows. The knife would hit a shell and she would flip it up and keep swimming while I measured, sorted, and bagged. We each limited out in <5 minutes in 20 FSW. The dive was boring, so we surfaced and floated/swam back (to minimize the sand in the gear. Afterward we were told that it was considered "bad sport" to do this on SCUBA because it was too easy. The locals said they only free dive for them.
Oh well it was the best clam chowder I have ever had. Never gone back, maybe I will now since you got me thinking about it!
Wayne