CrabbingInTheHood.com

One of the great things about living here in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of native seafood available at various times of the year, like Dungeness Crab, Oysters, Razor Clams, and Spot Shrimp.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) cleared the way for yet another Razor Clam dig for the end of April and early May at up to five area beaches. These will all be early morning low tide openings. No digging will be allowed on any of the days after Noon.

Be advised that some of the beaches south of Twin Harbors have been closed to vehicular access. Always be sure that you’re driving on packed sand, or trust me, you’ll be packing sand!

Beach openings, along with morning low tides, will be:

• Tuesday, April 27, 6:21 a.m., -1.0 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Wednesday, April 28, 7:06 a.m., -1.4 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Thursday, April 29, 7:50 a.m., -1.6 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Friday, April 30, 8:32 a.m., -1.5 ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks

• Saturday, May 1, 9:15 a.m., -1.0ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

• Sunday, May 2, 9:58 a.m., -0.7ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

On May 1st, the Puget Sound’s recreational shrimp season opens. Mark O’Toole, WDFW’s Puget Sound Shrimp Management Biologist, predicts that the 2010 Shrimp season could possibly yield one of the highest catch-per-pot ratios we’ve seen in the past 10 years! Overall, it’s expected that Puget Sound sports fishers will pull approximately 130,000 pounds of spot shrimp out of area waters during the course of the season. Now doesn’t that make your mouth water?

Fishing will be open in the following areas:

• Marine Areas 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 and 6 (excluding shrimp districts), will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. The spot shrimp season closes when quota is attained or Sept. 15, whichever comes first.
• Marine Area 6 (Discovery Bay) will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 7 opens May 1 at 7 a.m., and will be open on May 5, 6, 7, 8, 21 and 22. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Areas 8, 9 and 10 will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 11 , from the northern tip of Vashon Island to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, will be open May 1 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) will be open May 1, 5, 8 and 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 13 will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. through May 31.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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4 out of 5 coastal WA beaches will be open this weekend for Razor Clam digging.

Twin Harbors beach will open tomorrow (Jan. 28), followed by openings at three other beaches later this week after a new round of marine toxin tests showed the clams there are safe to eat.

Long Beach. however, and will remain closed to digging due to high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) detected in the clams there.

The Olympic National Park also approved a dig scheduled at Kalaloch Beach, based on the results of a new round of marine toxin tests.

The four beaches that will open for digging at noon on the specified days (peak of low tide):

• Thursday, Jan. 28 (5:13 p.m., -1.1 ft.) – Twin Harbors 
• Friday, Jan. 29 (5:58 p.m., -1.5 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks 
• Saturday, Jan. 30 (6:41 p.m., -1.5 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch 
• Sunday, Jan. 31 (7:23 p.m., -1.2 ft.) – Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch

For the full news release, go to WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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For those of you who braved the stormy New Year’s elements and were left with very little to show for your dedicated efforts, you’ll be glad to hear that two additional Razor Clam digs have been tentatively scheduled by WDFW (WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife), one at the end of January, and another at the end of February.

For the dig planned this month, Long Beach and Twin Harbors are tentatively scheduled to open on evening tides Jan. 27-31, with digs also planned at Copalis and Mocrocks beaches Jan. 29-31. In addition, the National Park Service has scheduled a two-day dig Jan. 30-31 at Olympic National Park’s Kalaloch beach to coincide with those at the other beaches.

Tentative digging days and tides for this month’s opening are:

• Wednesday, Jan. 27, (4:24 p.m., -0.5 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors
• Thursday, Jan. 28, (5:13 p.m., -1.1 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors
• Friday, Jan. 29, (5:58 p.m., -1.5 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Saturday, Jan. 30, (6:41 p.m., -1.5 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Sunday, Jan. 31, (7:23 p.m., -1.2 ft.) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch

For the additional dig scheduled in late-February, the following dates and locations apply:

• Friday, Feb. 26, (4:49 p.m., -0.7) Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks
• Saturday, Feb. 27, (5:34 p.m., -0.9) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch
• Sunday, Feb. 28, (6:16 p.m., -0.8) Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrock, Kalaloch

For the full news release, go to The WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife website.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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My family and I are doing something different this year to celebrate New Year’s.

We’re heading out west to Grayland WA, situated along Washington’s Cranberry Coast, just south of Westport on Hwy. 105, to the Ocean Spray Cottages.

The owners of the Ocean Spray Cottages Resort, Gary and Diane Johnson, are friends and former real estate agents with the Windermere office here in Silverdale WA. They recently retired from real estate, and moved out to the coast, where they purchased the Ocean Spray Cottages Resort.

The Ocean Spray Cottage Resort consists of well-maintained private cottages, complete with kitchens and many amenities, including cable TV. Some cottages are small and quaint, just perfect for that romantic retreat. Other cottages have 2 bedrooms and can sleep up to 8. The resort is situated on a beach access road, and is conveniently close to local restaurants, grocery, and antique/gift shops.

Our upcoming stay coincides with the Razor Clam Dig scheduled for Dec. 31st thru Jan. 2nd

Ocean Spray Cottages Resort

1757 State Route 105, Grayland Washington 98569 / (360) 267-2205

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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This past weekend was one of the few ‘morning’ razor clam openings allowed by the WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife this Spring 2009.

Of course, who were we to complain about the scheduled time for digging. Is there EVER a bad time to dig for Razor Clams?

We left the house around 4:30 in the a of m (Yikes!) and drove the 2 1/2 hours it takes to get out to the Coast. We stopped at the drive-thru Starbucks in Aberdeen for some badly needed Nectar of Life, and proceeded over to Copalis Beach where a GAZILLION other clamming enthusiasts shared the same idea.

We prefer Copalis Beach because its one of the few area beaches you can actually drive your car out onto without getting stuck in the sand (been there, done that, got the t-shirt).

The ‘pickins’ were what you would expect for this time of year. You definitely had to work a bit harder than usual to get your limit. The rain didn’t help matters any, making it somewhat challenging to see the clam’s “show.”

We ended up with about 45 or so, just enough for a good feed and a few left over to ‘seal-a-meal’ for another day.

It takes just about as much time to clean the razor clams as it does to drive all the way out to the Coast and dig ‘em up. Fortunately, I had a couple of spare hands (thanks, Ben and Jerod!) and I was spared the ‘joy’ of cleaning these bad boys!

But, of course, I didn’t excuse myself from enjoying the fruit of our labors. After the boys got the clams all nice and cleaned, I dipped them in flour, egg, and cracker meal, then fried ‘em up golden brown. Some ketchup and horseradish mixed together makes the perfect sauce!

It’s a lot of work, but there’s few things in life more tasty than fried razor clams!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com and SOUNDBITEBLOG, or email at rich@windermere.com

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