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Talk to me about clamming

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Wire For Fire

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Haven't done it since my friends grandpa used to take us as kids 30yrs ago.. would really love to get into it and take my 6yr old cause he is born bread marsh rat.. can't peel him out of the bay when we go and you can see he truly loves it..

 

anywho.. talk to me about logistics here.. need a permit I know but where to get.... town permit office ??  Lil man need one too? And areas? Anywhere you dare to eat from fair game or there designated picked clean areas you have to stick too? 

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South Shore Nassau - check the maps, as it changes often.  It used to everything west of the Wantagh was closed, but some small areas have opened up.  Some are seasonal, like the area around Short Island on the West End of Jones, and they are literally waiting in the weeds for those who "unaware".  This includes taking any for bait.  I wanted to do the same for my kids, and they used to enjoy grabbing them out of the bay beaches shorelines.   But there are very few spots where I would feed them what we caught, I'm thinking Peconic Bay and farther east.  The amount of sewage that gets dumped in some of these areas, like Zach's Bay or the Boat Basin was easily noticed while yakking or SUPping, so heaven only knows how clean the water is in Nassau.  Be careful of the permits if you do go, I know some places like Nepeague they are very zealous even in the Winter and they nailed someone who had a fake permit last year.

 

Nassau closures: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/103483.html

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I been reading the confusing stuff on the dec site.. sure seems like for Recs no permit needed ??? And the zones are super confusing.. size and bag limits no prob.. hard clam 1" thick , soft clam 2" long.. don't need no tickets or other nonsense. Just wanna be able to go pull few dozen clams every now and again.. guess the research continues 

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Recs do need a permit.  I believe it is $5.00 for the season (at least it was a few years ago).  Depending on when you go, I would look at the current map and then at the water quality of the area.  I see people clamming in Jones inlet at low tide.  I have also seen them getting tickets and their clams taken away because they don't have permits.  If you get your permit in the Town of Hempstead you can only clam in the Town of Hempstead.  I believe the office to get the TOH permit is in Long Beach if I remember correctly (been a few years).  Your best best is to go to a B&T and ask or directly to the permit office.

I know I fish like a girl....try to keep up

 

 

 

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Clamming is generally governed by the towns.  Go to your town clerk's office and get the information for the town that you live in (nonresidents may not be allowed to clam in a number of towns).  It may be available on the town's website.  You will need a permit, and there will be size and quantity limits, as well as waters that are off-limits to clamming.  Not sure whether there is an age cutoff for permits; it's not impossible that your son won't need a permit, but that he can only contribute to your bag limit, and doesn't get a limit of his own (I've seen that sort of thing in some jurisdictions).  But the bottom line is that the town clerk's office should be able to tell you, and if you like what you hear, they'll sell you the permit as well.  I'd tend to rely on the information I got from a town clerk's office rather than a tackle shop, just because things like closed areas can change, and the town will have the latest information.  If they guy in the shop doesn't clam, he may not be on top of things, as it won't be a significant part of his business.

"I have always believed that outdoor writers who come out against fish and wildlife conservation are in the wrong business. To me, it makes as much sense golf writers coming out against grass.."  --  Ted Williams

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thanks yea I'm not going till I'm sure all my ducks are in a row... Sue I have seen many people getting busted over the years where you talking... late night last season they had two guys on side of parkway with like 10 5 gallon buckets full ... Pretty much right where that pic was taken from... I live tow of oysterbay so should give access to somewhere possibly worth while.. 

 

The dam dec site reads like a dam lawyer wrote it and is super confusing....  I will keep on reading and asking around ...

 

 

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I would think there are some really good areas by you then for clamming. I agree with what CW said above, go to the clerk's office for your info.

Totally agree about the DEC site.  I swear they do it to get people confused and give up on getting permits!

Hope you and your son get out there. I loved clamming as a kid with my uncle in Jersey.

I'm not far from you, so if you ever have too many.....   LOL

I know I fish like a girl....try to keep up

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Wire For Fire said:

.. I live tow of oysterbay so should give access to somewhere possibly worth while.. 

 

 

 

 

Town of Oyster Bay

$7 for clamming and $1 extra for digging warms for a total of $8.00

Stop by town clerk on South street with ID showing you are resident of Oyster Bay; in and out in 15 minutes

They have maps where you can harvest clams

 Bad day fishing is still much better than good day work.

 

"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him had better take a much closer look at the American Indian.
                                                                                     - Henry Ford-

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18 hours ago, Wire For Fire said:

thanks yea I'm not going till I'm sure all my ducks are in a row... Sue I have seen many people getting busted over the years where you talking... late night last season they had two guys on side of parkway with like 10 5 gallon buckets full ... Pretty much right where that pic was taken from... I live tow of oysterbay so should give access to somewhere possibly worth while.. 

 

The dam dec site reads like a dam lawyer wrote it and is super confusing....  I will keep on reading and asking around ...

 

 

Lmao, it took me forever to understand that piece of literature. You have to actually interpret the site word by word to understand it. Clamming after sunset or late night is illegal btw. Every certfied area in LI requires a permit/license besides land that is owned by the state of NY. They used to require license for state land but no longer do. There are only 2 lands in Nassau to my knowledge. Boat basin and Zach Bay. You being a resident of LI, you could probably get a permit and hit up better spots.

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They never really enforced the southampton permit until a few years ago when they noticed the amount of small crabs being taken from mecox was through the roof. Southampton, no permit is needed under 16 years old. Other nice thing is that there is a guest provision where a permit holder can bring a non permit holder as long as the permit holder is fishing at the same time as the non holder

the human race has proved darwins theory of evolution wrong. we let the dumb survive. 

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On 11/12/2017 at 10:03 AM, Suebert2 said:

I would think there are some really good areas by you then for clamming. I agree with what CW said above, go to the clerk's office for your info.

Totally agree about the DEC site.  I swear they do it to get people confused and give up on getting permits!

Hope you and your son get out there. I loved clamming as a kid with my uncle in Jersey.

I'm not far from you, so if you ever have too many.....   LOL

although I take lobster by hand (or try to) every year. I know literally zero about clamming other than apparently the distance between the spikes on your rake may be be the difference between a nice catch and like a 300 dollar fine. So one day I saw an older guy out digging and did my best to leave him alone but finally I couldnt resist I had to go ask him some questions about how to get started, gear, permits etc.  It turns out hes been doing it for years, but when he saw me kinda staring at him from down the beach he was convinced he screwed up and I was a DEC cop coming to tax him a couple hundred bucks for his mistake.

 

No exaggeration once I told him how complicated I thought the whole thing was and opened up my phone,  his eyes kinda brightened when he saw that they actually put the coordinated onto an actual map you could read and the two of us spend the next 15 minutes trying to trace where along the beach the red area ended and he went from instant revocation and fine to 100 percent legal in a matter of about 40 feet. 

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