What are they?

[hbstriker]

Been seeing a few creatures that I am curious about while fishing. first thing i found, was a worm like creature. about 8-10 inches long andmaybe longer, and looked like those tools someone would clean barrels of guns with, a cleaning brush or something. That's what I though it was at first actually, but it moved further into the sand when i went to grab it. One was actually out of the sand, and was bright orange half way down with a clear/opaque end . Second, there were these things, assuming another type of worm or some shellfish, that if you touched the end that was just barely peeking out of the sand, it would immediatly retreat DEEP into the sand, while squirting water a few feet into the air. Definitly got a faceful of water. They were way too quick and way too strong for me to grab/dig out. I was bored while fishing, and and started looking for stuff to use for bait someday in the future. Saw some really cool sea slugs too.

[spiceguy]

The squirters are clams, probably cockles.

[sansou]

I think spice guy is right on: cockles.

I bet where you saw them was in slightly muddy sand or in a marshy flat somewhere.

Never tried them for bait, but I bet they would work. Careful harvesting them around SoCal cause they are big bio-accumulators.