shellfishing in areas not on the map

[samiam]

OK, first question. It may not be an easy one to answer. I plan on canoeing and crabbing the back creeks of Northern Cape May County. I'd like to do some clamming at the same time, if I can find any sign of the critters. I have looked at the NJDEP 2011 master shellfishing chart. Unfortunately, it ends well East of where I'm going to be crabbing. For example it ends just a smidgen West of the confluence of the Tuckahoe and Great Egg Harbor rivers. The GEHR inset is of no help as it does not show any detail for the Tuckahoe or points South. So, what should I conclude about the legality of digging clams West of the map (assuming that they don't magically cease to exist at the map extent?) I don't currently have a GIS viewer that works on this computer - is there any chance that the NJDEP GIS data includes my area of interest? Thanks in advance.

-Sam

[jason22]

If they are not on the map as having specific open closed dates, I doubt you would have any problems if you can find them.  I think the map focuses more on the areas with any quantities. Also you need to still have have your appropriate license.  However, when in doubt, it's safer to make a call to NJDEP.  

NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife
Nacote Creek Research Station
P.O. Box 418
Port Republic, NJ 08241

Marine Fisheries - 609-748-2020
Shellfisheries - 609-748-2040
Enforcement - 609-748-2050

[mdjohn]

some areas are polluted and you don't want to clam them since clams are not mobile and are filtering critters

check first

[Ronster]

OK, first question. It may not be an easy one to answer. I plan on canoeing and crabbing the back creeks of Northern Cape May County. I'd like to do some clamming at the same time, if I can find any sign of the critters. I have looked at the NJDEP 2011 master shellfishing chart. Unfortunately, it ends well East of where I'm going to be crabbing. For example it ends just a smidgen West of the confluence of the Tuckahoe and Great Egg Harbor rivers. The GEHR inset is of no help as it does not show any detail for the Tuckahoe or points South. So, what should I conclude about the legality of digging clams West of the map (assuming that they don't magically cease to exist at the map extent?)

To answer your question, 99.99% of  "off of the map" is going to be off limits.    Specificallly, to answer a couple of your examples above.

The Tuckahoe is prohibited further inland from the point that is shown on the map as the beginning of the special harvest zone, where a rec clammer can't harvest.

The Great Egg Harbor River is restricted to a rec clammer inland and beyond where the seasonal harvest area is shown.   The right side of the inset map picks up where the GEHR goes off the bottom of the page on the main map.    You can clam in the seasonal harvest area, but only during the dates shown.

http://www.nj.gov/dep/bmw/2011classcharts/chart14.pdf

Just an FYI, unless you are digging up ribbed mussels off of the banks in that portion of the GEH river or that far down towards the Tuckahoe, there are betting spots in the main bay itself to clam.  

[samiam]

Thanks for the education. I will mostly be towing the canoe to put-ins on a cart/trailer behind my mountain bike, so I'm trying to keep the one-way peddling distance under 15 miles. It's not that I don't have vehicles available, or that I'm any kind of anti-automobile fanatic, but it's a large freighter canoe, I prefer to avoid the lifting needed to car-top it regularly, and a car or truck with trailer could make parking difficult at some local put-ins (Cedar Swamp Creek at CR 631, for one example) One upside is that both the cart and mountain bike fold, so I could (in theory, anyway) peddle to a put-in, throw the bike and cart into the canoe, paddle to a take-out, set up again and peddle away from there. That theory needs validation against reality, but I'm kinda excited about the potential. Any decent clamming around the bay side of Corson's Inlet State Park (away from the jet ski beach, of course) or in any of the smaller creeks off of Corson Sound? I've hankered for a long time to do some casting among the pilings on the old OC 59th St pier, and the canoe may be a suitable vessel for that on a flat day. I might look to harvest some mussels from the pilings while I'm there. Clams within easy reach would allow me to "double-up" on my harvest.

-Sam

[Ronster]

The clamming is good on the bayside of Corson's Inlet.

[Lordron]

Would that be left of the boat lanch or right Ron?

[fishingtom]

Do people ever clam in the Chesapeake?  I mean I have seen razor clamming but are there clams that you can eat in the bay?

[glsnj]

The clamming is good on the bayside of Corson's Inlet.

So is saltwater fly fishing... used to go there regularly....

[Ronster]

Would that be left of the boat lanch or right Ron?

Wherever the water is shallow and the bay bottom is sandy.     

[KI Crabber]

Do people ever clam in the Chesapeake?  I mean I have seen razor clamming but are there clams that you can eat in the bay?

Yes there are edible clams in the bay. Steamers or Mano's have been a long time staple on the shore. Further south near the mouth of the bay hard clams or Quohogs are available. The steamers are too rich for me. They are still good but I prefer fresh hard clams myself. If they are fresh, they actually have a sweet taste to them. Dipped in butter and Old Bay or JO's#1, they are hard to beat!