Seafood

[John H]

I traveled north this past week and did an NFF trip for some edibles. I love to flyfish but I also like pursuing opportunities that don't really work well with the fly rod. It is also nice to bring something home to eat especially if it is from a stable population that can handle some harvest. We spent time at the beach, out on the ocean, on the river and in the hammock. We got razor clams, crabs, rock fish, ling cod and hatchery spring Chinook. Fun times catching them and good eating.


http://i.imgur.com/Cs7MdGG.jpg (https://imgur.com/Cs7MdGG)


http://i.imgur.com/zvUSvHs.jpg (https://imgur.com/zvUSvHs)


http://i.imgur.com/czMFWyx.jpg (https://imgur.com/czMFWyx)


http://i.imgur.com/WZfkXHy.jpg (https://imgur.com/WZfkXHy)


http://i.imgur.com/9PnDrAK.jpg (https://imgur.com/9PnDrAK)

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Did you stay with a friend?

That looks like an Australian skiff? Serious fishing boat.....or is it a Wooldridge tunnel jet?

One thing we miss in the summer is the cool Pacific coast with clean air and seafood.

[John H]

The cool clean air is great. It is nice to go to a completely different environment and get a break from where you live. The north wind can pound you a little on the coast but that is what you get in the summer. That is a Dory boat. They launch them off the beach in Pacific City. You can’t go out far in them and the flat bottom makes for a bumpy ride but it is a unique experience. There is a guy who does fly fishing trips but it is windy and rough so I am not sure it would work that well. I stayed in a couple of different houses up there and moved around a little. I have a friend that is into gear fishing and salmon and likes to do the trip.

[Darian]

Looks like you did really well on both catching/eating. The collection of fish is impressive but the stars of the show are the Clams, to me. They really must make a great chowder or bake. That coastline reminds me of the Crescent City area. Good memories. :cool:

[John H]

Razor clams are not that common on the west coast. There are some near Crescent City. I deep fry them and what I can’t eat in a few days I freeze and use for chowder later. I made some salmon stock I am going to put in the chowder. We will see how that comes out. I have gotten the bay clams a few times but the razors are much better IMHO. Based on the number of people out getting the razors I would say they are preferred by most. Clamming is closed sometimes for domoic acid but that gives them some time to get big.

[Darian]

Back when I lived in San Carlos (Bay Area, late '60's/mid 70's), I roamed the coast every weekend and every opporunity for Salmon/Steelhead in estuaries. Before Ano Nuevo became a state park, it was open for roaming at will to watch Elephant Seals & Clamming. Sometimes you could catch a Silver or Steelhead then go Calmming for littlenecks/Washingtons. On the way home, you could stop off to pick some Mussels. All good for the pot. Of course, that was then, this is now (Ano Nuevo is closed to access & very few Salmon & Steelhead in that area).

[RoosterHunter]

Great photo's. Still with the Olympus. I'm thinking about buying another GoPro10 model. The last time I had GoPros was the 3 and 4 series. Many moons ago. I'm also going to purchase a GoPro Dome for shooting the mid underwater shots

[John H]

I took those on the phone. I have a GoPro but I never use it. I think I am too old to get into the GoPro. It seems to be a young person’s thing. So many people make semi professional videos on YouTube that it is hard to make something comparable unless you mount multiple cameras and edit 8 hours of footage. I have one of those domes. I think you can do some cool stuff with it but it is kind of big to carry around.

[hwchubb]

Spent a few days in the Newport area after dropping off my son at rowing camp at OSU 2 weeks ago. No fishing gear, but those incredible flat beaches along the central OR coast are amazing. We hiked and biked them, and learned that you ride upwind on the way out, not back. I’m with you on the razor clams - they had just gotten into a couple of the seafood restaurants up there and I took advantage of that.

That hammock looks pretty good.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Several YouTube video on razor clams:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=razor+clams+catching

[John H]

HW - I have also found the north wind is tough to ride into on the beach. You go downwind and dont really notice it but when you turn around to go back you are working hard. Sometimes I go downwind on the beach and come back upwind on the highway. I have seen some commercial clammers at the beach. They get wet but they are pretty good at it and get a lot with justa shovel. I assume they are selling them to restuarants or fish markets but a guy told me they use them for crab bait.