Digging razor clams on the Pacific beach at low tide is one of the defining experiences of the Long Beach Peninsula and something of a ritual for generations of Washington families. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife opens specific clamming days at low tide between October and April based on population surveys; check the WDFW website before visiting as dates change each season.
The technique is simple: you spot a small dimple in the sand where a clam has pulled back into its burrow, insert a clam gun (a hollow tube with a plunger, available cheaply at hardware stores and tackle shops in Long Beach), and pull up a core of sand containing the clam. Each person can take up to 15 clams per day. The clams are good eating — sweet and firm, best fried in butter with garlic. The beach at low tide on an open clamming day, with hundreds of people spread across the sand in the grey Pacific light, is a memorable scene regardless of your clamming ambitions.