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Bait Fishing with Mussels and Clams

© Louis Bignami

MUSSELS & CLAMS

Shellfish appeal to more freshwater gamefish than one might expect. Clams and mussels enjoy a wider distribution in lakes, rivers and ponds than most fishermen realize too. Shellfish get to some isolated waters when their larval forms are transported by birds. Free swimming, or at least drifting, larvae and move quite surprising distances too. Esturine gamefish eat marine clams and mussels. So do freshwater drum, sturgeon, landlocked striped bass, catfish, panfish and even trout. The problem, for the fish, is getting the clams open. Sturgeon accomplish this by their grinding plates. Other species must make do with scraps from natural attrition like anchors.

SELECTING SHELLFISH

Fresh clams and mussels aren't sold far from saltwater or catfish action. If you buy shellfish for bait or the table, insist shells are closed tight. If you tap the shellfish, and they don't close, try another or expect early mortality. Given the supply problem, and prices, it's nice that shellfish are easy to glean from sand, gravel, mud or, if you include saltwater species such as rough piddocks, even rock. Empty shells tip off the spot to try. Move just up current, and you'll find mussels or clams busily filtering out the particulate matter they live on. Given the pollution today's rivers this can be both a tough way to gather dinner and the reason why most freshwater shellfish is unfit to eat because it's contaminated by fecal matter. They are, however, safe to use for bait if you wash your hands before you eat your sandwich.

PICKING YOUR OWN

Gathering shellfish can be as easy as picking them up off the bottom after you've felt them in soft bottom "Huckleberry Finn" style. With the number of cans and bottles in most waters, more timid types use a garden rake to cull baits. You can even track some in sand by the curving path they leave on the bottom. It's important not to take too many and, if you break some, use these immediately, or bring these along as chum. It's usually a good idea to collect your shellfish where you plan to fish as the mud and munchies you stir up will attract fish to the area from downstream or down current.. Bait with a mussel or clam, and you can expect action. Note: This works in tidewater as fish come in with the rising tide to rummage around where clam diggers have disturbed the substrata to expose shellfish, worms and the like.

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