David Churbuck’s Reel-Time FLog

This is the weird pre-season when I generally flog the water in search of micro stripers that don’t really exist until the end of the month. Knowing not to waste my time with the fly rod, I use the end of April to clam like crazy, hitting the spots that get closed by the Barnstable Department of Natural Resources on May 1. Call it the Townie’s Perogative, but he who gets on the water early, gets the clams.

Having launched on Saturday and clammed that same day, I took stock of my tired, rusty clamming equipment and decided to borrow my step-father’s stainless rake. What a revelation! Nice rake, cut through the mud nicely. So I went in search of a similar one, ran a Google search on Cape Cod Clam Rakes and found R.A. Ribb in Harwich. I called Ribb and they had an 11-tooth, stainless rec rake with a 6` ash handle. Off I went, down Route 6 to exit 11, banged a left and took the second right. At the end of the cul de sac was a quaint old Cape house with a weathered sign that read "Ribb."

In the shed behind the house was a machine shop filled with huge metal working machinery. Inside the door was my rake. A quick credit card transaction for $87 later, and I was going home with a sweet implement of clam death.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 19th, 2005 at 7:58 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.