Manila clam digging on Oakland Bay

[Fish-or-man?]

Not exactly must-see TV, but man, I love manila clams! Easter this year sure was a beautiful day!

[The Quadfather]

Always such great videos and reports from the field.

[Mordalphus]

Watched this last night. I've got a question, that muck looks so gnarly, did those clams taste any good?

I'm a fan of clams but prefer digging them out of the sand, and those flats looked like straight up dirt.

[Fish-or-man?]

Thanks as always Quadfather!! Mordalphus, I'm usually in the same boat as you. My favorite spot on the sound is North Bay because it's clean loose gravel-- no muck at all. However, these clams were terrific! And I mean dynomite, man!

I used a freshwater purge. I usually use cornmeal but I was out, so I used a bunch of pepper and some salt instead. Let sit in the fridge for 90 minutes, rinsed them through a collinder, and they were completely grit-free.

[Mordalphus]

Sweet, thank you!

[kzoo]

Very entertaining. Was there Geoduck episode?

[Fish-or-man?]

No, I got some footage, but I was filming myself so it was pretty rough. I'll probably do a geoduck episode this year if I can hit a good tide!

[Augwen]

Nice video Fish-or-man!!!

[DavidA]

Great video Fish-or-Man! Thank you! I have to add my 2 cents worth.

The best way to get them to purge is to bring back a small amount of salt water from the beach and let them sit in that for a few hours, but keep it refrigerated or as cold as possible (32-50 degree range). They will want to breathe & feed and so should open up if not disturbed. When they open, much of the sand that gets trapped in them when they close quickly, as you disturb them by digging, simply falls out. Because they are accustomed to being bathed in salt water they will close when the water becomes too fresh. If fresh water does touch the meat, it can flood the cells causing them to swell and possibly burst (technically, they can't osmoregulate well). Good luck.