geoducks

[Fish-or-man?]

Has anyone here every gone geoduckin'? I love to razor clam, but never have went after geoducks. However, I have eaten them and they're twice as good as razor clams in my opinion, so I'd really like to dig for them.

It's my understanding that you can get them in parts of Puget Sound at extremely low tide. Can you use a standard clam shovel or do you need, like, a regular shovel? Any advice would be appreciated!

[dilbert]

When I was little we would dig for geoducks at our friends cabin near Shelton. I remember just using the normal clam shovels. We never had those fancy clam guns, even for the razor clams. We have pictures somewhere of them lined up in the grass after the dig, but I don't remember how they were cooked.

Recently, geoduck digging was on Dirty Jobs, and I think they were in Washington somewhere.

[viet]

i haven't been geoducking in a couple years as the populations haven't been as good. we use to go up to blaine (the beach right on the border), chuckanut bay (in bellingham), and dosewallips state park (in hood canal).

you can use regular shovels or a clam shovel. i've never used a clam gun when geoducking. they are deeper down than razor clams so the clam guns were harder to use. if i remember correctly you have to find the lowest tides of the year to go or its hard to find decent sized ones. super good to eat though. you can slice them up and eat raw sashimi style :chef:

i did see an episode on pbs where scuba divers would dive in puget sound and use a vacuum in reverse, pumping water out of it (kind of like what they did on dirty jobs). looked a lot easier than digging with a shovel for them. Average geoduck was 10lbs. we'd be lucky to get a 5 pounder diggin.

good luck

[Anonymous]

I use to go geoducking all the time with my dad and uncles out towards Shorewoods near Hansville during low low tides. We would start off by finding the geoducks while they baked out in the sun. Sticking their necks out we would place a stick near the spot and do this until a dozen or so were found. Then we would start with the closest to the water and work back towards shore as the tide would come in. We always used an old hot water heater cut down to about 3 feet and handles welded on the side. Slowly my dad or uncle would place it over the duck and rock it back and forth until it was just about to the handles. This helps to keep the geoduck from digging down sideways and out of reach. We then would just use regular shovels and dig out the sand. Being careful not to chop the neck or break the shell while digging. Once we got down I would go into the tube and dig by hand around and get the duck out. If it continued to go deeper we would dig around the modified water heater and continue to stomp on it or stand on the edges rocking it back and forth to dig it in even further. I remember as a kid them digging down so deep they would hold me by my ankles and lower me in to retrieve the duck out. Fun times.
The best way I remember preparing them was on the bbq after cuting up the neck and meaty parts and pounding them out. Brushing them in bbq sauce and eating them right off the foil still on the bbq.
I haven't gone geoducking in years because around here a lot of home owners have claimed the beach strip in back of their property to a 0.0 tide. Kind of ridiculous and annoying but what are you going do.


fishnislife

[gpc]

I have only done it 1 time and I believe we were on Lopez island. This was when I was really young maybe 8 and me and my cousin were down at the beach unattended. We had a regular shovel and dug up a whole bunch of them. I do remember them hauling a$$ threw the sand and spraying water up higher then we stood. We eventually got the shovel taken away from us because his parents had so many geoducks and clams they didnt know what to do with them all. So we tried digging with our hands, it didnt work. But I have no idea if it was the right season (it was during the summer) or if it is even allowed where we were.

I have eaten them a couple of times. My favorite way is over a fire on a cast iron pan. Cut the geoduck into small bite size peaces. Then cook them in a little butter and seasoning. I know they are really tough to cook though. Too long and they are like rubber, but too short and they really lack flavor. But with the price of the things you pretty much have to get them yourself.

[viet]

This helps to keep the geoduck from digging down sideways and out of reach.
fishnislife

no to be a stickler , but its actually a myth that geoducks can move or dig. They actually lay in the same spot digging down few inches a year. Their syphon is 2-3 feet long and that is what sticks up. when threatend the pull the syphon down. They are usually 2-4 below the surface (smaller ones are closer to the top and largers deeper). my uncles use to bring something like the water heater you're talking about. this is to try to keep dirt and water from refilling the hole you're digging. you do have to be really carefull while digging though or you'll chop off the neck or break the shell. i believe its actually illegal to intentionally chop off the neck and have it in possesion without the body (dont quote me on it though).

wdfw has a good article on them. here's the link

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/beachreg/2clam.htm

[Fish-or-man?]

Wow! Thanks for all the knowledge guys! The part of my brain that stores info on geoduck harvesting just increased 10-fold!

[fishnislife]

This helps to keep the geoduck from digging down sideways and out of reach.
fishnislife

no to be a stickler , but its actually a myth that geoducks can move or dig. They actually lay in the same spot digging down few inches a year. Their syphon is 2-3 feet long and that is what sticks up. when threatend the pull the syphon down. They are usually 2-4 below the surface (smaller ones are closer to the top and largers deeper). my uncles use to bring something like the water heater you're talking about. this is to try to keep dirt and water from refilling the hole you're digging. you do have to be really carefull while digging though or you'll chop off the neck or break the shell. i believe its actually illegal to intentionally chop off the neck and have it in possesion without the body (dont quote me on it though).

wdfw has a good article on them. here's the link

http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/shelfish/beachreg/2clam.htm

Your not being a stickler viet. I did not know that about them. I thought that they had a pre-existing path that they traveled down when threatened. The chopped water heater did help a lot by not letting sand fluff in and water fill your hole up, expecially if it's a big one and it's holding at 4' below the surface.
Good stuff guys. Thanks for the link viet.


geoducknislife

[A9]

We get them right off our beach cabin on low tides...Get a shovel and start digging...They can be a lot of fun, until you have to dig several feet for them....