clam beds

Just wondering what the key is to finding the clam beds. I have never fished them and I am wondering what areas are more condusive to finding them. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

~~~alkfish

Im new to the whole clam bake errrrr bed idea myself…. but it seems from what Ive read on the board that if you dont already know the location of clam beds they can be found (now that the water has dropped), by viewing piles of clams along the shore…….

I DO know that when your dragging lead through them you have NO doubt they are they… its a constant tap, tap, tap that many mistake for fish the first few times they experience it…….. it seems they beds are in fairly shallow water…. say less than 10 feet…… and they are on sand……

otherwise you might ask people familiar with the pool your interested in if they have any information on the location of clam beds… as far as I know most people would probably dial you in on them as they are NOT secrets….. kind of like wing and closing dams……

I am totally lost to the clam bake too!!!LOL I think I will try your advice rivereyes. Also, how big do these beds get? Just curious.

~~~~alkfish

I dont know if its just one bed, but some I have fished are pretty darn big… one of the largest is at the base of pepin, right out from the willows in front of lacopolis…. that one seems to stretch for several hundred yards and its width is pretty much the width of the flat… Id guess at least 100 feet? been a while since I been on it… but it impressed me as being a pretty big pile of clams! that place was always a great spot in the spring.. and there are SOME years that they sit on them in the summer… could this be one of those years?

I just know I had a great day fishing clam beds on Tuesday…. what a trip…

I used to do a lot of drifting with a lindy and floater. It works excellent in the river when the current is slow. When you do this you will snag clams every once and a while, and over the years I have found many clam beds. These beds are as good to walleye fishing as any structure such as rocks and drop offs. Find these and you will find fish. Try spots where the current has slowed down behind breaks that have a fast current. For example, in the early spring when virtually every boat is snug up to the dam in 40 ft of water catching 12 inch saugers, I sit back about 500 yds or so on the east side of the river in 9 to 15 ft of water (on the clam bed) and catch nice walleyes and big saugers.

JJW

I fish a clam bed on pool 14 often during the summer months. It seems to always hold some eyes, and just about every other kind of fish imaginable! This one is quite large also, probably in the neighborhood of 30 acres. It is just off the channel below a bend in the river, on a 4-12′ flat shelf. It is definetly hard on line and jig paint. I prefer trolling cranks when the fish will take them. The clams have been overrun by zebra mussells, and they are especially hard on mono and tackle.

Finding them used to be easy here, just had to look for where the clamming boats anchored in the summer during season, but I think they did away with the season due to clams being endangered by the zebra mussells. Not sure how else to find them, this one has no tell tale signs, but it is unmistakable once you drag a jig or rig through one time. I’ve found a coupe of small beds floating like webstj does, and they are much less pressured…. good “secret spots” to pick up a couple nice fish from time to time, and can be covered quickly if no fish are there or active.

I caught the biggest clam of my life this morning. I was my first on the river-so maybe this is normal. It was 6″ long 4″ across about 2″ thick and weighted over a 1/2 pound. It hit a shad rap! I have only caught them in lakes, and they are 1/10 the size of this. Is this normal?

its unusual to fish clam beds and NOT catch a clam or two….. particularly with a crank that is “digging” the bottom….

I knew that catching a clam is relatively common-I was curious about the size. It was bigger than my hand!

ahhhhh… eye sea!……

well…. river clams frequently get pretty big…. when I was fishing clam beds last week I also caught one probably about the size your talking about….. kind of funny… at first I thought I had a fish as it was bounceing off other clams… then I got it off the bottom and it was just dead weight…. so I knew what it was…..

Theres a couple of ways to locate them. First when cruising the shore line look for broken pieces or piles of dead ones on the shore. The bed will not be far from where these wash up. Also pay attention to other people and what there doing.In many cases you or another boat will hook pieces or a live one when trolling or rigging. This is how I’ve found many of the beds that I like to fish. One other piece of onfo is that once you locate a couple you’ll learn to read other areas and can figure out what the clams like as in current and bottom content.Hope this helps cause clams beds are a fish holders at all times of the year.FISH ON!!!!!!

Rivereyes, I spent a whole day on the boat with you and not once did you detect the dead weight at the end of your rod! Oh…………………..I’m sorry! Didn’t realize you were referring to the opposite end of the handle! LOL!

no… but all day I detected dead weight on the other end of the boat!!!!

LOL

I have a couple of clam beds that are on my regular milk run of walleye spots. All of these beds I have found by accident, by dragging clams up with a jig or crankbait. I make a note of them and return whenever I’m in the area. Spring, summer, fall all seem to work for me, and they’ve become some of my favorite “secret” spots. Thanks for the post St. Croix, I’ll start looking for the washed up shells as I make further ventures on the river.

Of course there was dead weight at the other end of the boat………….I had to slide your cooler up for the keepers “I” was catching! LOL!

Growing up as a small fishing enthusiast, fishing the lake/river out back, I was always told “clams in these parts are really called “Mussles”. I’m NO expert, just curious!! Is “Mussles” the nick name for clams or the “real name???? I suppose this post could be considered “dead weight” as well.

Clam is technically correct, but general. More specifically, Mississippi River clams are freshwater mussels, which alludes to their particular family, Unionidae. Generally, the freshwater mussels as a group are also referred to as naiades.

Ooops correction make that order Unionoida its been awhile.

Zach

Edited by zboudreau on 07/30/01 03:52 PM.

Thanks “mang”!!!!!!