Digging for Cockles in Newport Oregon

Digging for clams can definitely be described as dirty work, but your hard work, if executed correctly, will produce a succulent and buttery reward when finished.

Newport Oregon is located an hour north of Florence, along Hwy 101 and many beautiful sea view cliffs. The cockles can be found in South Beach, which is located on the south side of Hwy 101's Yaquina Bridge and Bay—on the other side of the bay from Newport.

Park at the Hatfield Marine Science Center's front parking lot and unload your gear. You should bring a bucket, rubber boots (old tennies will work too), and a three prong gardening rake with long handle. Along with these helpful tools, you should also plan your trip with a low tide in mind. A minus tide is most desirable, but it is definitely possible to put these Yaquina Bay treasures in your bucket with a tide that is not over a + 1.0.

To find the cockles, you must head from the parking lot to the Yaquina Bay Estuary Trail. This trail is a bird lovers paradise, and actually winds its way around a couple miles of marine life—dotted with informative and educational stands. Immediately starting the trail from the parking lot, you will cross a small wooden bridge, and then walk about 50 yards until you begin your journey across the estuary and towards the water, which is another 100 yards or so. You will see an inlet that cuts its way into the estuary. Just on the other side (upriver side) of this little water channel is where you want to begin raking—at the bay's water edge in the kelp, and even in the water a few inches.

Raking for these cockles can be done by pulling the sandy estuary bottom towards you—making two or three passes a couple inches down each time. You'll know when you find a cockle by receiving a "clunk" sound, which sometimes prompts a little clam squirt of water. Keep digging along the bay's edge, upriver from the small inlet or channel, until you get your limit of 20 cockles. When clamming here at a really low tide, it shouldn't take very long for you to reach a limit.

You're an Oregon coast "old salty" now, and time to head for the cook shack. The flavor that you'll get out of these cockles is amazing. The rich deep clam flavor makes for some excellent clam chowder, and some awesome clam strips if pounded out tender. An Oregon shell fish licence is required for the harvest of these clams.