Pacific oysters need a minimum water temp of about 65 degrees in order to reproduce, 70 is even better. I know of long shallow bays that reach these temps on most summers. I'm guessing there are year that they don't reproduce.

You’re correct, I’m sure they don’t reproduce yearly, but they are in shallow water. Part of the area I find them in is a big tide pool that’s maybe waist deep at the deepest spot, and it flows into a shallow bay that goes to about 6-7 feet in the middle. It’s very shallow until you go out a ways towards big water

That makes sense. Sweet little jackpot ATT.

I almost gave up the goose by accident yesterday, some guys came cruising past where I parked the pickup as I was working my way up towards it. I hid my bucket real quick (my friend was still behind me a ways on the trail with another bucket) and tried to act like I was coming up empty handed. It’s not a long walk, but it’s thick brush all around to hit the beach, so I figured if I didn’t provide any motivation for them to investigate, they probably wouldn’t