NFR Geoducks

[Stonedfish]

Anybody enjoy digging them? Haven't done it in years but it sure was fun.
Might need to do it again on one of the beaches I've seen a lot of them on during a minus tide.

We used to do most of our digging on the canal.
My dad cut the bottom out of a short, wide metal garbage can to help maintain the hole, though we didn't always use it.
Clams, geoducks, oysters, crabs (no pots required) and salmon all in the same weekend. If it was a morning tide, we'd head up to Lake Cushman and catch kokanee in the afternoons. The old Swedes ate good.
Lots of fun times back then.
SF

 

[Buzzy]

Brian - I remember my dad and Kenny Hughes trying to get a geoduck from Bugge Spit, the tide caught both dad and Kenny on their bellies: Geoduck 1, dad and Kenny 0.

 

[Mossback]

I dig about once or twice a year on the Canal. A friend has a good beach and so we head down at the low tides and get after a few.
I'm too lazy to try at this time of year, but I'm told they're still there...

 

[Smalma]

Geoducks are an iconic species for PNW and everyone that enjoys the area's outdoor owe it to themselves to attempt to dig a "duck" at least in their life. Great excuse for adults to roll around in the mud. My father and I made two "duck" tubes in 1975 out of pieces of 9" culvert. We cut them to length drilled two holes a inch or so below one edge to insert a piece of rebar for a handle. With the spiral turns in the culvert, you could screw them in or out of the mud. Work great - screw the tube down a couple inches remove the sand/mud and repeat until you reach the clam. Work around the clam shell so that you can lift it out - don't pull the neck it will break off. Then just unscrew the tube and look for the next clam.

My son now has the tubes; over the years we have dug limits on 18 or 20 PS beaches. A major life milestone at 70 I was able dig a limit (3) in 40 minutes. While most of the clams are about 1.5# have dug them as large as 7.5#. Great eats.

curt

 

[Triploidjunkie]

Never had one, but hear they're good.

 

[Stonedfish]

Never had one, but hear they're good.

Very good.
My mom made a mean chowder and fritter with them amongst other dishes.
SF

 

[albula]

Sorry but, at least in my world, cooking a geoduck is a crime.

 

[Stonedfish]

Sorry but, at least in my world, cooking a geoduck is a crime.

No worries. Great raw as well.
I like them both ways, cooked or raw.
SF

 

[Nick Clayton]

Never dug them or eaten them that I'm aware of, unless I had some in a chowder somewhere along the way.

I have met some cool commercial geoduck guys at boat ramps over the years. I have always enjoyed chatting them up about their job and the market and such.