On Sunday, Oct. 25, NOAA's tide prediction for Hyannis Port, a nearby reference station rather than the Lewis Bay shellfish flat, puts low water at about 5:50 PM. Sunset in West Yarmouth is about 5:45 PM, and Yarmouth permits recreational harvesting only between sunrise and sunset. Local low water could come at a different time, so check local tide predictions before you plan the trip.
That Sunday is the last scheduled day of the year for the Lewis Bay recreational quahog area, and conditions are subject to closure. A storm can shut the water whatever the calendar says, so check before you go (how is below). The rest of the fine print comes in the order you'll run into it.
If you buy the permit Saturday night
The area is open only to holders of a Yarmouth recreational shellfish permit. As of Oct. 21, the town's permit page lists these prices:
Residents and taxpayers under 75: $30
Residents and taxpayers 75 and over: $15
Veterans with a DD214: $30
Non-residents or non-taxpayers: $80
The Town Clerk's office at 1146 Route 28 sells permits Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, so a weekend buyer goes online through City Hall Systems. The town says eCheck is free and cards carry a 2.95% fee (minimum $1). One exception to plan around: a town FAQ says the discounted 75-and-over permit is bought at Town Hall, so if that's your rate, confirm with the town before counting on a weekend online purchase.
The catch for a Saturday-night purchase: the official permit arrives by mail, so the town says you must print your receipt and bring it while shellfishing. The town's 2024 regulations booklet also says the permit has to be worn visibly on your outer clothing, with ID on hand. How that applies to a printed receipt is a question for Natural Resources.
The same booklet says the permit is a household (family) permit, one per household, usable by a spouse and minor children who live there, and that children under 12 have to be with an adult permit holder. That's the town's published rule, but the booklet's fees are out of date, so confirm both points with the Division of Natural Resources before Sunday.
One ten-quart basket, one inch at the hinge
The Lewis Bay amendment, signed by the Select Board and stamped May 14, 2026, sets the harvest limit at one level ten-quart wire basket per permit per week. The booklet defines Yarmouth's week as Sunday through Saturday, so by that definition Oct. 25 starts a new week. Since the area is scheduled to close that evening, it's also the only day of that week the area is set to open.
Legal size is a hinge at least one inch wide. The booklet says a quahog that slips through a one-inch gauge is seed and goes back. By its definitions, a littleneck is one inch at the hinge and about two and a half inches long, a cherrystone runs two and a half to three inches, and anything bigger is a chowder. Hours are sunrise to sunset, Sundays only. On Oct. 25 that works out to roughly 7:04 AM to 5:45 PM, from standard sunrise tables for West Yarmouth.
The sign on the telephone poles
The amendment describes the area as the "Quahog Relay Area," running from Shore Road west to Colonial Acres Beach near the mouth of Mill Creek. The town's map shades a long band of the West Yarmouth shoreline and marks the ways to the water. Neighboring parts of Lewis Bay carry their own state classifications, so stay inside the marked area. The town pages we checked as of Oct. 21 don't explain why the area opens only on Sundays, and we didn't find the details of the relay behind the name in the records we read. We won't guess at either.
The parking rule is explained, in red. The amendment sets a Sunday-only temporary parking ban, sunrise to sunset, through Oct. 25, posted as "Temporary No Parking Tow Away Zone" signs on telephone poles along Shore Road and nearby streets. The town's parking map marks legal spaces in green on stretches of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbus Avenue and New Hampshire Avenue near Englewood Beach. Those are segments, not whole streets, so read the posted signs on the day. The amendment asks for drop-offs and carpooling, keeps trailer spaces for trailers, and warns about boat traffic.
What tonight's storm could change
As of Oct. 21, the National Weather Service expects heavy showers and thunderstorms tonight, Wednesday, with the rain ending Thursday morning and dry weather from Friday on. Whether that matters for Sunday is up to the state and the town, not the calendar.
A scheduled season is not proof the water is legally open on any particular Sunday. The Division of Marine Fisheries can impose emergency closures after storms, and it has done so here: DMF closed all of Lewis Bay for heavy rain in August 2023, and its statewide precautionary storm closure on Sept. 25 this year covered SC28 until noon Sept. 28. The state's March 2026 growing-area map lists SC28.0 as Approved, but that label doesn't make it rain-proof. Yarmouth separately publishes rainfall management restrictions for SC28.0 for commercial Lewis Bay shellfishing. Those rules shouldn't be assumed to govern the recreational relay area.
As of Oct. 21, we found no new DMF notice naming Lewis Bay, which says nothing about Sunday. Before you rake, read DMF's dated Emergency Shellfish Closure and Opening Notices and confirm the exact Lewis Bay recreational area with Yarmouth Natural Resources at 508-760-4800. The town's Shellfish Alerts page is where you sign up for future alerts. It isn't a live archive of closures.
Where the rake goes after Sunday
The town's recreational page currently lists no other recreational quahog area after Oct. 25. The permit still has a use. A separate amendment opens bay scallops in all Approved/Open Yarmouth areas, seven days a week, sunrise to sunset, from Oct. 1 through April 1, 2027, though closure notices and conditions can override those dates on any given day. The limit is one level 32-quart bushel per permit per week, and no shellfishing is allowed at 28°F or below. Yarmouth doesn't use Barnstable's size rule that we covered off Kalmus. Its standard is the raised annual growth ring.
For Sunday's quahogs, NOAA's Hyannis Port table, again a nearby reference station and not the flat, shows high water at 11:49 AM and the ebb running all afternoon toward that 5:50 PM low. Lewis Bay's own timing could differ. The town hasn't posted a 2027 schedule for Lewis Bay. That isn't the same as ending the program. The next date on Yarmouth's shellfish calendar is April 1, 2027, when the scallop amendment ends.
Details
What: Lewis Bay (SC28.0) recreational quahog area, Yarmouth. Last scheduled open day of 2026. Conditions subject to closure.
When: Sunday, Oct. 25, sunrise to sunset (about 7:04 AM to 5:45 PM). Scheduled Sundays only since June 7.
Where: Lewis Bay shoreline in West Yarmouth, from Shore Road west to Colonial Acres Beach near the mouth of Mill Creek. Parking is limited; the Sunday tow-away ban is in effect; legal parking is mapped by street segment.
Tide: NOAA's Hyannis Port prediction (a nearby reference station, not the flat) puts Sunday's low at about 5:50 PM, after sunset. Local timing may differ.
Permit: Yarmouth recreational shellfish permit. As posted Oct. 21: $30 residents/taxpayers under 75, $15 at 75+, $30 veterans with DD214, $80 non-residents. Online via City Hall Systems (print the receipt) or at the Town Clerk, 1146 Route 28, weekdays 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. A town FAQ says the 75+ permit is bought at Town Hall; confirm before counting on buying it online.
Limit: One level ten-quart wire basket per permit per week. Minimum one-inch hinge width.
Check first: DMF's dated Emergency Shellfish Closure and Opening Notices, then call Yarmouth Natural Resources, 508-760-4800, to confirm the recreational area is open. Yarmouth Shellfish Alerts is a sign-up for future alerts.