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 Come prepared with buckets, boots and crab pots, and delight in the mouth-watering taste of Hood Canal shellfish. Oysters, crab, shrimp and clams can be harvested seasonally. Experience what locals know is the freshest and most delicious seafood in Washington.
Check current shellfish regulations for Hood Canal, then head this way for a fun day at one of Mason County's many public access shellfish beaches.
Shellfish Beaches
Along Hood Canal:
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Belfair State Park, 3 miles west of Belfair, is an excellent beach for oysters year-round. Stay overnight, and grill your catch right from a campsite near the water.
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North Bay, between Allyn and Victor, has enhanced oyster beds and several varieties of clams. A map shows which areas are best for harvesting.
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Cushman Park, 13 miles north of Shelton on Hwy 101, has several varieties of clams and oysters.
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Eagle Creek, 3 miles north of Lilliwaup on Hwy 101, has excellent oyster beds. The scenery along this stretch of highway make the extra drive to this little beach well worth the effort.
In Puget Sound:
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Hope Island State Park, accessible by boat and located between Steamboat and Squaxin Islands, is a great place for shellfishing. Lucky clammers will find the famously large Washington geoducks, along with native littlenecks, butter, Manila and horse clams. Oysters are also present.
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Oakland Bay Recreation Tideland, 6 miles north of Shelton, makes for a fun but muddy day collecting oysters, manila clams and eastern softshell clams.
Important links:
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Recreational clam and oyster beaches and seasons. (Link is an interactive map -- click on the beach locations in yellow for specific information, including species and seasons, for that beach.)
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Hood Canal recreational shrimp season information - opens the first Saturday in May 2008. Hours are from 9am - 1pm on May 3, 7, 10 and 14.
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If you're not equipped to dig, catch or shuck your own, locally grown shellfish is also available throughout Mason County in several retail outlets, where you'll find a wide variety of fresh-off-the-beach bi-valves, shrimp, clams, mussels and much more.
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