was when I told my story of going after geoduck and horseneck clams at Morro Bay... and how we caught them. No one believes me when I tell this story.
You have to sneak up on them.... you have to skulk, remaining deadly quiet. When you spot one you have to slowly and cautiously get within striking distance then spring... suddenly and without hesitation... like a leopard on a muntjac. Get as many fingers wrapped around their 'foot'.... can't say what it actually looks like, and it is a 'foot'... hopefully your whole hand because you're in for a battle.... but whole hand grabs are rare, mostly likely you'll get a 2, maybe a 3 finger grip and then hold on for dear life. Immediately call out to the shovel man, (it's a two person job), who will come running, (if he's a good shovel man), immediately... then with your other hand you guide the shovel blade down and next to the 'foot' you are desperately trying to hold on to so the clam doesn't disappear beneath the mud.
Inch by inch down...(they can be 6' deep), carefully guiding the shovel blade so as not to decapitate, or de-foot the clam.... all the while holding on with all your strength like trying to pry from the shoal a buried sumo wrestler.
It's a tiring but relatively pain free process UNTIL..the next day, that is...when you discover that geoduck and horseneck clams have shells sharper than any Gillette razor blade on the market and you wake up to find your hands from fingertip to wrist lacerated in a zillion places and nearly to the bone.
So the question - "Is it worth i?". Yes... best clam chowder EVER. BUT, not only is the 'hunt' exhausting, and time consuming... but 'tenderizing' a geoduck, or horseneck, will take every ounce of stored patience you have built up... and can take hours of constant pounding OR hours of running them thru a tenderizer.
Now is when you reply with "big fat liar". - JamesJM
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2019 02:40PM by JamesJM.
