From the sky:
Thursday looks like the DELUGE, Friday oughta be drying' up some.

From the ocean:
NW wind to 10 kt...becoming SW in the afternoon. Wind waves 1 ft. W swell 17 ft at 17 seconds.

Friday. Only a 1 day dig.

fp

Fri
SW wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 1 or 2 ft. W swell 16 ft at 17 seconds subsiding to 14 ft at 16 seconds.

Rain only expected to be 0.1 to 0.25 inch

Today
SW wind 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 16 ft at 16 seconds. Showers likely.

Game time..... who's in?

fp is gonna have a lil' crew unless it's raining.

See ya out there somewhere!

fp

Small crew from eyeFISH and fp got out for limits tonight. It wasn't as easy as it's been this year. The waves just wouldn't stay out very long.

And, as usual, Mrs. fp dug my limit again.

fp

I think most folks looking out over the west horizon to see the seemingly tame surf were surprised to find out just how high up the beach that 16 ft swell would take those "little" waves. Saw one adult and 2 kiddos taken down by a good surge... and many folks went over their boots before they could scurry up the beach in time. Lotsa diggers had to abandon half-dug holes to escape the fury of the water.... only to have their exposed clam washed up the beach to get plucked off by the ever-present seagulls. It was a challenging dig, and not the best to take kiddos without dedicated (non-digging) adult supervision.



Where the last dig on my favorite patch of sand revealed obvious shows everywhere with no coaxing whatsoever (yielding easy 10 minute limits), last night it was a "no show" zone without a good pounding stick. It took an hour and a half plus to get the dirty deed done. Glad Mr/Mrs fop were there to help us pound our way to limits (2 pounders, 4 diggers). Mrs fop helped to top off my limit before we ran out of light!

I don't dig anymore....not in 35+ years, so my comments are from someone that "used to dig", when the limit was more and waaaaaay less people digging.

On this dig, just seemed strange to me that Long Beach got lots of days but this area only 1 day......???????? Just wondering?????

Equitable sharing with the co-managers

Those photos look like some folks that are having a lot of fun.

Fish on...

Todd

If the Copalis beaches are safe from toxins why is it not wide open like Long Beach?

I assume there are plenty of clams to harvest, if equitable harvest by QIN is not achieved we could argue foregone opportunity.

Not sure we want to push the 50:50 shares... my understanding is that the state is historically WAY ahead on the clam harvest.

Each beach MUST receive TWO clean toxin screenings before they are allowed to be opened. The state is opening them as quickly as they can. Some beaches are affected far more by the toxins than others. The warm water we had raised the toxin levels more than usual. Combine that with the high fat content (where the toxins are stored) of razor clams, prolonging the amount of the time they hold onto the toxins, and you get beaches closed longer than usual. The toxin levels are decreasing and we should see more beaches opening later in the spring if this trend continues.

Copalis was hammered the last few weeks with higher than normal turn outs. If we want opportunities on it through the spring, we need to save some quota for later digs.

We were there too last Friday and like Fred said the "shows" were really tough to see. That being said we got ours thanks to my new custom clam gun.....Thanks again Fred!!!!!

Beezer

The first week of the upcoming dig at Long Beach is scheduled on the following dates and low tides:
•Feb. 4, Thursday, 3:41 p.m.; 0.8 feet, Long Beach,
•Feb. 5, Friday, 4:28 p.m.; 0.2 feet, Long Beach
•Feb. 6, Saturday, 5:11 p.m.; -0.3 feet, Long Beach
•Feb. 7, Sunday, 5:52 p.m.; -0.7 feet, Long Beach
•Feb. 8, Monday, 6:32 p.m.; -1.0 feet, Long Beach
•Feb. 9, Tuesday, 7:12 p.m.; -0.9 feet, Long Beach
•Feb. 10, Wednesday, 7:52 p.m.; -0.7 feet, Long Beach

fp

I really wish they would open up a copalis/mockrocks beach for a weekend... as much as I love long beach, it is not affordable for the working class bremalo...

The upcoming dig at Copalis is tentatively scheduled on the following dates, pending favorable marine toxin results:
•Feb. 19, Friday, 4:33 p.m.; 0.0 feet, Copalis
•Feb. 20, Saturday, 5:17 p.m.; -0.1 feet, Copalis


fp

Jeez, I've lived here more then 35 years, limits have always been 1st 15 since 1980? When were they more then that, the '60's? Why not dig anymore? Lost the taste for razors? Bob R

Long Beach is wide open digging.

Twin Harbors domoic acid level jumped back up to 55 last test. Gonna be a while before we see that open.

Mocrocks getting closer to an opener.

Copalis should be wide open from a toxin standpoint, but we've already taken 36% of our allocation on that beach in just a handful of openers, so they're being very conservative to stretch things out into the spring. I did hear from the clam manager that they're definitely holding back a bit to make sure we get an opener to coincide with the OS Clam Festival March 18, 19, 20

Bob R......

At one time anyone that wanted to pay could get a "commercial license" and dig wash tubs full.

I moved here in 1968....beaches were open "lots". I not really sure they were ever closed......day dig, night digs.....just not many people digging per tide, because of the wide openings of days to dig.