I was in France over the summer, and on one of the beaches there were loads of locals raking up the sand for cockles. I decided to have a go, but didn't ave a rake. The best method I worked out was to get down on your knees, use your fingers like a rake and just search the top couple of centimetres of sand. We got loads of cockles and a clam, then fried them up in garlic butter when we got back. Tasted amazing, but certainly not enough to feed three people after we'd worked for an hour to catch them.
Has anyone else tried cockle picking? It's good fun so I'd recommend anyone to give it a go.