A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about waves after a visit to Reid State Park, having seen surfers riding beautiful, perfectly tubular ones along the open beach. This week, in the sheltered part of the park, a very different activity took place — clam digging. This part of the park, out by Todds Point, is off the beaten path and includes a wide sandy flat that is home to a healthy population of soft shell clams. Just yesterday, the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust and the Arrowsic Shellfish Committee hosted an open clamming day where people could come and learn how to dig clams and then take them home to eat.

Reid State Park’s clam flats are a bit easier to navigate than the soft muddy ones along Brunswick’s shore. Their sandy substrate makes it easier to walk on and to try out using a clam rake to scoop out the sand around the tell-tale holes from the clams’ siphons. It’s also a lot cleaner than harvesting in the mud. For all of these reasons, it is a good starting point for anyone interested in learning about clamming. This is particularly true for kids who can navigate the sandy bottom much more easily than the mud.

During this day at Reid State Park, anyone is allowed to come and dig clams. It’s important to note that, outside of open harvest days like this, each town along the coast has specific rules for recreational harvesting that may differ from place to place. If you are interested in harvesting, you should check with the town office where you live to find out whether you need a recreational license.

The event at Reid State Park was an opportunity not only to learn about how to harvest clams but also to learn about the rules and regulations surrounding harvesting. For example, participants could try out using a clam ring to ensure that the clams they keep are at least four-and-a-half inches in diameter to be legal. The smaller clams have to be put back right where they came from so that they are protected and can grow bigger. They could also learn about how digging works in each community and the importance of clean water to the resource and what you can do to ensure this as a coastal resident.

Obviously, this event has already passed, but there are some great resources online if you’d like to learn more. “The Mudflat” is an online publication (themudflat.com) produced by The Maine Shellfish Learning Network, a collaborative of a diverse group of organizations.

On the website, you can view a calendar of events like the one at Reid State Park as well as upcoming events like the Clam Festival in Yarmouth (July 15-17).

If you’d like to be in the know for next year’s digging day at Reid State Park, you can subscribe to their newsletter. On another part of the site, you can see how clams are harvested by watching a series of videos recorded by the “Clam Cam.”

These videos show harvesters digging clams on the flats and offer a glimpse of a day in the life of a clammer. There are a number of other resources on the website as well including the ongoing work to identify and protect coastal access points for commercial harvesting.

If you’re interested in seeing how clamming is done live, you can see it most days of the week if you head to Wharton Point on Maquoit Road. There, you will find a variety of canoes, airboats and “sleds” out on the mud that are used both to access the flats and to haul their catch back to shore.

There is also information in the kiosk about clam digging that describes the history as well as the economic value of the shellfish harvesting industry. Harvesters are out during the low tide cycles except for on Sundays (when you can’t harvest in the summer months) and when there are closures due to water quality. Or, if you’re more interested in just sampling this tasty local catch, you can always find clams to eat at seafood markets around town.

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