How to Find Freshwater Clams and Mussels 

Nice to see a RU-vidr that isn't hyped up. I enjoy the calm nature of your video.. relaxing, interesting and fun! Thanks.

Conservation at its finest my friends, a true outdoorsman.

I swear you are the only RU-vidr of this sort in Texas. I've been seeing your videos every time I look up a video of trapping and foraging out here. Thank you so much for documenting this work!

When you talked about the gar in the river, it reminded me of the time that an alligator gar swam up within a couple feet of me in waist deep water. It was like being approached by a dinosaur. Great video, and maybe you will make it to the Tennessee River one day, where you might find a pearl or two on a dive.

Love Texas, lived there for 5 years. Amazing state and good people.

Added bonus to doing this, if you're living off-grid, or in a long-term survival situation: Collect the shells over time, and when you've saved up a decent amount, throw them in your camp fire. Let them get good and hot. Clam shells are chemically identical to limestone, so "cooking" them like this converts them to a form that can be used in making concrete.

I found a little freshwater clam, I put him in my tank. He did great! I had him for a month! Unfortunately, he passed away the other day. Clams are fun to watch! They make cool trails in the sand. He was a good clam

God bless you and your family bro....thanks again sharing your knowledge with us. Very useful. I know this video is 4 years old and I’m catching on a bit late on your videos but thank you and I hope your health is back or gets back in Jesus’ Mighty Name

This would work well on Vancouver Island. Little cold tough.

hey Bob glad to see you making more videos again I'm proud of you young man

This is a very helpfull video for me.I live in bedford tx so im A: happy to know how to find them and B: happy to know i can get them around here! Great vid,youve earned my subscription,keep em coming

Thank you Bob for this video Hope you feeling much better mate. Regards to you and your family. 🇬🇧

Good informative video, I’ve seen our own mini-clams here in southern Arizona, just never knew I could eat them , thx Bob !

Thanks for making it very clear that conservstion is very important here ! Good man

Great information and demonstration Bob. Cheers for sharing cobber.

They give all these so called outdoorsman shows.. but right here people is the real deal , really love the channel bob and family and cant forget huck . everyone have a great day

you're 70 miles south of me bud! just discovered your channel and I'm loving the content. I'm an out doorman myself and I'm learning some awesome stuff here!

Shared this on a couple of survival groups on Facebook. Another great video Bob!

thanks for the vid! im in central fla. cant wait to go out! im used to crawdads!

Bob you deserve 1 mil view and have your own show

Bob, you have inspired me and I am an old guy!

Love the weeping willow trees. Lovely country and love this video.

Really enjoyed ur video. We live in VA and my youngest son and I love getting the shells. Didn’t know u could dig for them. We just like the shells. He calls them his treasure! Thank u again for this. Learned a lot. Definitely need to check out what kind we have her e

Thank you for your video. Its very well detailed and well described. Can you make another one about snails?

Great video. I have been wanting to try this in the rivers of Illinois.

Look wonderful to be foraging in that river.

i was asking for farming purposes growing them in controled habitat. thanks for your response .

Hey, just found your channel by browsing for survival cooking! I love all things survival and your channel is great, greetings from Canada. Subbed.

Out at one of the rivers where I live you'll find the small clams, I never have checked anywhere else. I don't think most people even know they are there. I remember first seeing some Vietnamese people swimming down for them and bringing them up by the handfuls and putting them in a big bucket and then adding salt to the water. We asked what they were doing when we came up to where the were and they showed us, they were friendly and talkative. We hung out with them drank beer together and watched them catch and eat fresh clams. I passed on trying them myself but everyone seemed to enjoy them that did have them.

I found a fresh water guoyduct in Goose Lake over by UAA in Anch, Ak. I thought it was a pop can at first. I put it in my surf shorts pocket and took the bus back through My. View ending up depositing it in a grocery basket so the good looking checker lady would notice it and take it home for supper. Anyway, I had no idea they even existed because there is so little education about it. But thanks to Bob that improving.

Thanks for reminding me. I used to do this many years ago.

I swear, you are the most incredible individual! You share awe-inspiring information for surviving in the wild and for those of us with limited hunting skills. Bob were you ever a U.S. Army Ranger?

Man that place is brimming with wildlife!

Hey Bob I enjoy your videos Thanks When my folks were alive I would go and visit with my Dad he had a commercial license to harvest those freshwater Mussels I would bring my Dive gear and go out in Lake Dardenell And the Arkansas river and gather up several hundred lbs boil them to clean them and then sell the shells to a buyer They had machines that cut little spheres out of the freshwater mussels That they would insert into oysters and make cultured Pearls I’ve seen huge beds of those Washboards And Maple Leafs as well it was hard work but enjoyable I even found a few freshwater pearls happy hunting Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat Semper Fidelis The Gunny

Love your videos man def learning a lot 👍

Beautiful scenery

Bob i warned you stories were gonna stir from within me from time to time, when watchin your operations. Remember doing this for the first time at age 9 with my dad at Lake Whitney around a small island just west of the dam in the 60's. Mom, Sister and i, could never get Dad to go swimming with us. So this was a real Dad Bonding Treat, for this child. Made the best channel cat bait... better than any other, even chicken guts. By passing the treble hook's eye shaft through their meat, it helped keep them on the hook, and the perch from stripping the bait. Never eaten them though. Seen plenty a empty shells along the banks of the Trinity River below Lake Worth Dam. Just 1/4 mile down the hill from where i grew up... They were always accompanied by massive raccoon tracks. Reckon they go underwater, a ways out, feeling em out too... As they've been, iv'e heard tell... Known to drown many a huntin dog that went in after them. Like an Outdoors Analyst Bob... i always feel healthier, and survival safer, each video you diligently provide. Bob, i name and date each comment and archive them for my Children and Grand Children's sake. So they could see just how Grandpa rolled on the... who, what, when, where and why of any subjects, that they too may well encounter. Kinda jump startin the resurrection if you will... for of all them Passed Granpas' that it took hatch me. -gilpin 2-15-16

i was eating clam chowder when i watched this haha

I found a bed with tons of clams at the mouth of a river in North Florida But when they were cleaned and cooked They tasted like rotted car tires marinaded in old motor oil But watching this, I may give it another try, upstream and at different depths

I always wondered if freshwater clams in Texas were edible. I found some big ones in Lake Sam Rayburn but never heard of anyone eating them, so I didn't try. Next time I go back, I'm going to get some and try it.

Subscribed! Awesome content brother

Good stuff, Bob.

We feel the bottom of the lake up to about chest deep and get them. Sometimes they're pretty big too!

How do you not have your own show?

Cool videos! Very informative

Thanks for the info man!

Clam shells are perfect for scraping furs for tanning, make good holders for pine tar candles and even for eating and drinking from if large and clean enough.

I'm trying to sell in Mansfield, they bring up good money for a thirteen year old, only in Massachusetts half of the twelve types of mussels here are endangered and protected by the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act so I have to learn how to tell different types of mussels apart and learn which types are OK to sell. I really enjoyed this video, wish me luck

Have to use caution in the upper half of the state . Not sure if y’all have snapping turtles or not . Now you have me hungry for clams and linguine. Thanks for the tips . Didn’t know about some of endangered ones

Get to know some Asians ( Thai, Cambodians) my favorite. We dig fresh water clams from buggs island lake, hardly bigger than your thumb. Stir fry with chili basil sauce. Absolutely my favorite meal, with jasmine rice!

Very informative you deserve more fans

I was scared when you started off by saying you eat them but I'm so glad you put in the disclaimer about avoiding endangered and threatened species!

pretty relaxing video to watch tbh

Lol I went to black river and had to use my hands to dig through gravel and sand since I forgot a shovel and just found the smaller species. I couldnt dig deep enough to reach the bigger ones because by that time my hands were sore cold and cut up by the gravel. I got about 20 but they look nice in my fishtank

In salt water we use a thin metal rod, like a screwdriver to probe the bottom for clams. It's better to get them from deeper water where the tides do not expose them to air and sunlight. I've not looked in freshwater although if I was hungry I might give it a shot.

I have huge clams in my fresh water pond in KY.. this may sound stupid but I was unaware if they were ok to eat? there about 9"

Very cool. I'll have to see if these are in my area. Usually there are things like locusts, packrats, squirrels, fish, even snapping turtles (you can't eat the alligator snappers where I live) but I think there are some easier things to catch that I may be overlooking... these clams look like the fastest possible way to gather meat without a trap or a weapon (or possibly even with one) so props to you on that haha.

you seem like a cool guy. very relaxed

We own a lake property, and there is like this beach and there are just these dead or empty clams on the bottom. It hurts to be there so I go somewhere else lol. But I wondered if any of them could be alive to eat.

Thanks for posting. Is there any rule of thumb for telling if the water is clean enough to eat the clams? Missouri, where I live, has advisories on eating certain fish from certain bodies of water, but says nothing I could find about clams.

Here in the Philippines we catch those clams during low tide :)

Nice work

Well done video.

I'm from Texas! Unfortunately, I live in a town south of Houston, in the suburbs, but we're close to the coast. I don't have a lot of opportunities to swim in rivers and creeks, but when I get the chance, I certainly will try this and see if we can cook 'em up and have 'em for dinner!

another great vid!

Again a very good video!

Any tips on finding them in rocky areas? Ive seen literally millions of dead shells up and down the river near my hiuse but it kind of hurts to dig through sharp rocks.

I live in South Africa and I so wish we had freshwater molluscs or a variety of species available. we have absolutely nothing . I very much want to introduce them to my wetland filter and my koi pond for natural filtration but I guess I'll have to make alternative plans if I ever visit the us again and find out what can be done if you fly out to keep them alive and maybe ship them if it would be allowed

Great video:D i started livin out yonder in Boerne texas o.o thats kinda out by San Antonio, is this anywhere near? ...Looks fun! Id like to try this with my grandparents sometime

There was a fishing hole here in Missouri that was full of huge clams. We never knew if they were ok to eat or not. They mostly hung out about 3 or 4 feet from the bank. Problem was too that the alligator snapping turtles were with them. I accidentally hooked one on a cane pole with about a hundred-pound test, Bent my pole double but didn't break, And took my brothers to help haul him in. They some nasty tempered beasts and immediately came after us. I was only 8 at the time and it kind of spoiled my like of fishing.

Awesome video! I was wondering if it is possible to buy some clams from you? I've been looking for clams to add to my pond, but so far the one's I've found are for indoor tanks. Or do you know of a website that sells fresh water clams?

Ah a fresh water clam...thats true it can grow even bigger almost 1foot.. We have that here especially in a muddy river where they bury themselves and if undisturb for many years it can grow bigger than u can expect..

Impressive. Unfortunately I do not see any clams in my home area of Lake Huron since the invasive zebra mussel appeared.

Do you purge yours? Thanks for the video, cheers!

how do you get a permit to handle and take freshwater mussels? also, is it safe to eat mussels from texas rivers? how do you cook them?

Hey man im interested in this. Not to eat them , though. But for filtration system. !!! ??? I might even get some from you. I want live ones.

I had no idea. Never even considered same.Thanks

you can clean out the shell and use It as a container for herbs and spices

thank you!

Hey is there any way that i could get the clams which out going in the water?

that's cool man I now what I am doing to day

I have always wondered about freshwater clams, i see BIG shells that racoons have dragged out onto pond banks.

Hi ya Bob! After watching this video awhile back, I looked to see if Oklahoma had any endangered species, we do. I wonder if there’s a waterproof guide to clams, like my Guide to Game Fishes, I need to check on that, I want to give clams a try, I figure if they’re too chewy for me to eat, I’ll grind em up and make a soup! What r ur thoughts on dehydrating them and shelf life time??? As always, love ur videos and learn from ur knowledge!!! Thank u

Do the clams and or oysters bury themselves in the mud?

Thumbs up. ENJOY....THE SIMPLE LIFE

Here in ny we use our feet to dig for the clams!!

I had no idea there were fresh water clams Thanks for the upload

We have an old method up here in New England and i call tarping. And it is exactly what it sounds like. Lay a tarp underwater and hold it to the sand with rocks. All clams under the tarp will come to the surface and try to push through. After a day remove the tarp, fan away the sand, and enjoy a pile of easily caught clams.

Did you find any pearls in that big old clim you're talking about

super cool

Nice video. However I though things were big in Texas. lol I want to see one the size of a dinner plate. lol Thumbs up!

do you ever take off your sunglasses? 😂

Just found 20 fawnsfoot! Good eatin!

Ever find any Pearls? Are they only in freshwater mussels or do the clams make them too?

will the mud in river suck you in, is it dangerous?

I digged for some today in NC for some and got about 30-40

dude i totally want to try that but we have snakes in the creeks in my area water snakes(non poisonous but still even their bite can cause complcations specially if some of the creek water gets in the wound) as well as Levantine Vipers (very poisonous) so im kinda sketchy about getting in the water with them..but it does sound like fun thing to try on one of my fishing trips ...here is a question how do you find a fresh water crabs where do they usually hide ?

does this apply to oklahoma too?

So for a massive one, how would you cook it? assuming bake but would you keep it in the shell or pry it open?

Most of those were mussels, not clams lol mussels are more oval shaped than clams (which are more rounder). The only one that was a clam was that small one which is an Asian clam called a Corbicula, which isn't native. The long oval one you threw back was a Texas Hornshell and pretty big one I'd say lol good content though, not many people mention mussels or clams. Keep up the good work Bob!