He phil duh. There are laws everywhere you go when it comes to enjoying the fruits of the earth. Some places require licenses and permits for everything while other places don't require anything at all. A lot of places don't require don't require a fishing license to clam and crab but some places like Del do. As far as choosing to use my feet instead of the rake, I used the rake the day before in Del but didn't plan on claming the day I went kayaking in Md. However, I did find using my feet was a lot easier. The only let down was not getting the small 1.5 inch clams, which are legal where I was claming. So I threw out there the two possible reasons why I wasn't able to find them there since I was using my feet not the rake. I believe that that area wasn't for the smaller ones. On the other hand, most of my clams were around 2 and 2.5 inches.