Stripers and "Jersey Clams"
by Bob D'Amico
The time to "hit the beach" with clams is any time but the best is right after a storm with it's big surf conditions and strong currents. The best storms are Nor'easters. The stormy water will churn and scour the beach, breaking up clams in the surf. It's meal time for stripers. I learned a good lesson, years ago from a guy at Island Beach State Park one late summer day.
"DEAD OR ALIVE"The best clams are Live Whole Skimmer Clams, they measure about 4 to 5 inches long in the shell. They can be either purchased from a bait and tackle shop or scavenged off the beach as the high tide ebbs (Note: It is illegal to do this since clams must be harvested from sites approved by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and you must have a permit however no one is going to throw you in jail over a couple of clams).
A partially open clam doesn't mean it's dead, knock on the shell or insert a bait knife and it will close up fast! And to be perfectly clear about fresh live clams, a lot of tackle shops claim their clams are "fresh live clams" but if they've got them in a cooler packed with ice, they are dead or nearly gone. Why? Because fresh water kills clams! Look for a tackle shop that keeps their clams in refrigerated storage units and/or in a cooler with those re-freezable ice blocks such as "blue ice."
If you can't buy whole live clams buy, in order, (1) "fresh, shelled" clams, (2) "fresh, frozen" or (3) salted. Salted clams hold well on the hook but are the last resort for me. If you open up a package of "fresh, shelled" or "fresh, frozen" clams and the odor is very strong, i.e. they stink, they are not "fresh" they are rotten. Bring them back to the bait and tackle shop and complain, the only thing they will catch are sea robins, skates and dogfish.
PURGE YOUR CLAMS: Back in the 1940's when $100 a was a terrific weekly wage you could buy a dozen clams for two bits. Today $4.00 is the going rate for a dozen clams, not a lot of money, but you can stretch your money if you purge your clams as soon as you hit the beach. This will keep them alive all day or over the weekend. Just put them in a 5 gallon bucket, fill it with saltwater and let them set there for 15 to 20 minutes to expunge the old water they are holding. Next take them out of the water and put them in a cooler. If you don't have "blue ice" you can use block ice or cubes as long as:
the ice is on the bottom
the drain plug is open
there is a layer of newspaper in between the ice and the clams. You DON'T want the clams to have contact with the melting freshwater.
The next day put the clams back in a bucket of fresh saltwater for another 15 to 20 minutes and then back in the cooler.
"CHECK YOUR BAIT!" The purpose of fishing is to catch fish, not to sleep on the beach in a lawn chair or tell stories about how great the fishing "usta be, back in the good ole days". Most guys bait their hook(s), cast, set their rod in a sand spike and don't check their bait until they "missed a hit." In truth, while they are kibitzing or sleeping the crabs and other life forms may be eating the clam right off the hook. Stay awake, hold your rod or stand alongside of it and keep your eye on the tip, Check your bait every ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes.
BAIT FISHING TACKLE: That "cow" bass I mentioned earlier and most of the keepers are usually lurking out there, in or beyond the 3rd wave. A few keepers are over the 2nd wave and all the shorts are playing on the far side of the 1st wave. And you've got an 8 foot long medium action surf rod with an all plastic spinning reel you bought at XXXMart for $39.95, Good Luck!
You need a 10 to 12 foot long medium heavy action spinning or conventional baitcasting rod capable of throwing 6, 8 or even 10 oz of lead. Just a regular old fiberglass rod will do the trick, one of the those classic Lamiglas® "Honey" glass rods with a big 70 mm stripper (1st) guide are perfect and many rod builders today offer light weight graphite rods built as stiff as a broom handle. Okay, you might grunt casting a 12 footer and it's not a lot of fun to catch a short bass with a rod and reel like this but we are looking for keepers and a trophy bass. You should learn to use the Off The Beach Cast (OTBC) to improve your distance, accuracy and eliminate the "sound effects." If you can't handle 11 to 12 feet then a 10 foot graphite rod will get you almost as far out. I have a 10-½ foot Loomis® that I use for plugging and for bait fishing in the 2nd wave but it can't handle more than 4 ounces of lead.
