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Hard to see the station wagon on the edge of the picture but this is my Dad hooking up his 15' cedarstrip to his '53 Ford. Don't know if you can make it out or not but the boat didn't sit ON the trailer, it hung UNDER it.

Down here on the Alabama Coast and the Panhandle,we don't get a lot of clams, but we can rack up on scallops.

When Long Point Bay (St. Williams) use to freeze over and we could leave a hut out there, for the season. We use to clean our perch, out there on the ice; leaving the remains behind the hut. Next time out, there was never a scrap left. The one time I guess the Mink (or Ferret?) wasn't willing to wait for us to leave. He/she came in the hut through one of the holes, in the floor. Jumped up on the bench beside the wood stove and just sat there? Wouldn't let us touch him; but wasn't afraid of us either. Fed it a bunch of the minnows and when he/she decided it was time; it jumped down to the floor and out the hole it went. All of us just sat there thinking what the hell; I guess warmth and food concurs all? Dan.

Well it turns out there is a lot more to clam digging than just going out and digging! My first attempts yielded some pretty decent harvests but I really had to work at it. Not knowing much I had been told I needed a "clam rake", a non resident salt water fishing license, a bucket or basket to put the clams in, and rubber boots. Well I had brought boots with me and I had a five gallon pail so off I went to Walmart. No problem getting the fishing license, $35.00 for a year, the clam rake was something I hadn't seen before, sort of looks like a lawn rake with a basket attached. That clam rake works but boy did it get heavy fast and I found it hard to use. I noticed other people were using a garden cultivator style rake, it was a lot lighter, didn't have the basket attached and the tines were longer which allowed you to dig deeper with much less effort. I took the clam rake back and bought the cultivator and my harvest went up quite a bit with a lot less effort but I was doing a lot of digging still. That's what most of the other people seemed to be using so I carried on. My last trip out I noticed a man walking along, he'd stop and within a few seconds he'd have a clam. This went on for quite a few minutes so I walked over, explained that this was quite new to me and while I was getting some clams it looked like I was having to work much harder than he was. He laughed, told me he was form West Virginia and if there was an easy way to get free food he probably knew it. It was one of those immediate friendships, we just hit it off. Anyway Jim showed me what to look for in the mud, a little breathing hole that looks like one of those old style key holes (there's lots of different holes in the mud but this one is very distinctive) and it is only made by the little neck clams. My success went up immediately and the effort went down to almost nothing. I also got to meet one of the local COs, Chuck Beacham, a really nice guy, very friendly, very helpful, they were checking licenses, catch limits and sizes. Clams have to be a minimum of 1" thick through the hinge to be legal and the fines start at $165.00 and can go up to $1000.00/ clam so you want to make sure you don't have any undersized. Anyway, Chuck showed me how to make a simple little gauge by cutting a slot in my pail, he also suggested making the slot 1 1/8 inches just so there was a bit of a buffer and I could be sure I would never have a problem, If the clam goes through the slot it goes back in the water! Other things I've learned: The smaller clams are considered "steamer clams", the larger ones are called "chowder clams" the names are pretty well self explanatory. Clams unlike mussels will only open up once they are completely cooked and you want to get them out of the steamer as soon as they have opened or they can get tough so it's better to do them in smaller quantities. Anyway that's clam digging 101 LOL. Anyway I promised pictures of these shrimp so: I've got a fairly big hand! A bowl of them And last, some of the newest batch of clams: Anyway, tight lines and stay safe.

Thanks my friend, I am loving it down here, the high today is supposed to be 23, the record high set back in 1949 was only 23 so we might even break that. We seem to get a few cool days then it bounces back up again but so far no snow LOL. Even though the temperatures tend to be up in the teens most days it can still feel cool if the wind is off the water, the ocean temp is only 53 F as of yesterday. The clams don't HAVE to be steamed first, lots of people do eat them raw, I just find it very hard to pry them open, my hands just aren't as strong as they were once upon a time.😉 I did read that putting them in the freezer for a bit first makes them easier to shuck but I haven't tried that yet, soon though! Perhaps being on ice made them easier for you kids to shuck them. We are really enjoying the steamed ones anyway, a bit of butter, a little garlic, 1/4 cup of white wine..... served over a bed of fresh pasta with crusty bread..... are you drooling yet 😋. Oh, and the clam juice you end up with, OMG I am going to try to find some Mason jars down here and can some of it to bring home, it will make a beautiful base for chowders and such. They do sell them in the local grocery store and fish markets, typically about $5.00 to $8.00 a dozen, I didn't count those but I am guessing I had about 4 dozen. You are limited to 1/2 a bushel twice a week, I haven't come close to that yet but I do expect next trip out I shouldn't have any problem. I've measured the ID of my pail and carefully marked the pail so I won't exceed the limit (and yes I calculated it based on a US 1/2 bushel 😉) This old man isn't taking any chances! You are just about right on the money, the last 2 lbs of shrimp we bought we had 26 shrimp so about 13/lb average, I won't even buy the frozen ones at home ever again, they are not even close in flavour. Anyway, the rain has stopped and the wind is dropping, time to get dressed and head out fishing. Tight lines and stay safe

With the bit of snow we had on the weekend I was able to get Sally out to the back lot here at the shop. Driving through foot + deep snow banks wasn't an issue. Then I tried climbing a 3-4 foot pile that the snow plow left. Got 3/4 the way over and the now wet tires started to spin inside the tracks. So back to the drawing board and came up with these cleats. One side is about an 1/8 inch down to grab onto the tire. The other side is about a 1/4 inch to dig into the ice. Had a few minutes to put the chains on the quad; so it's read to go as the back up vehicle if Sally craps out? We're going to look like the Nipissing Hillbillies have come to town. LOL Even Rosco my basset hound is ready to go; but my wife says I can't take him with? Dan.

I don't believe the reel and paperwork shown are a match, back in the day Pflueger was one of the largest American reel makers. Reels were pretty cheap back then compared to today's prices, and that one looks to be on the lower end of the pricing scale.

You can get a recreational shrimping added to your saltwater license for $16 annually. One benefit from getting old is that in Alabama once you turn 65 you no longer pay for any sportsman licensees. Not me, but this is how we do it. I do it mainly for bait.

I used to launch a 14 foot Lowe side console with 25 hp Johnson with a Toyota Celica...had to go with proper paved launches though

I remember the oldman pulling the boat with a 76 Monte Carlo.

dad had a1953 Plymouth . slippery ramp. came back from getting bait. he was standing on the roof with an oar. was not happy. sold it after we dried it out lol.

Yes, a boat for sure. I have set prawn traps for spot-tail prawns in a bunch of places off the coast of Vancouver Island. SIX BUCKS A POUND, you are making out like a bandit!!!!! Doug

Fantastic video, you really know how to put a smile on someones face!!

awesome!

You did a great job! 🤗 there is no wrong way to make a tip up just variations. Good on you and enjoy your day with the first timers.

better than line wrappped around an empty beer can I guess...pretty sure that was my first homemade rig

looks good Huzz, I bet it's gonna have some extra mojo because you made it yourself

Looks good the only thing I would change would be to use an old bike tire tube instead of elastics. Nothing works better than simple.