fish_4_all said:
I have fished here for along time and have never seen them locally. I don't even find them digging sand shrimp.
Am I digging in the wrong places or maybe it is too cold up here? I would use them in a heart beat if I could find them. I know they will work, I have used Chitons before and found a lot of them in fish stomaches.
What types of areas do you find them in down there? Real beach areas where you find clams? Back water areas? I would really like to find them here.
Well, since my last response, I have hunted and eaten them and they are pretty tasty and easy to find.
You'll never find them where you find ghost shrimp (AKA sand shrimp) or bay clams.
You'll find them on a surf-washed beach... if you're near Yaquina Bay, the north beach is just LOUSEY with them... look for a dimple or depression in the sand that's between 1/4" and 1" in diameter and dig. They are usually between 2 and 12 inches deep.
If they are very shallow, they often leave a distinctive show that looks like a heart, deer hoof, or just two little holes with a wash pattern around them. Be careful digging shows like that on a very low tide, however... dungeness crabs can leave a very similar show and the last time that I was on Nye Beach on a minus tide, I knocked two dungies on the noggins while trying to verify that they were mole crab shows and not razor clams... I usually dig a show like that from about 6 inches away just to be sure.
Usually, if you just stick your shovel straight down into the sand and lever back on the handle, the sand will come up with the mole crab sticking out of it, unless it's really wet sand.
On most beaches they will be buried about the middle of the intertidal zone.
You can also strain them right out of the surf.
They are one of the most universally preyed-upon creatures on the beach... surf perch and just about everything else love 'em.