THE QUINTESSENTIAL QUAHOG GUIDE
FUN FACT
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT: Various types
of bullrakes can be used for
clamming. Kids love going
quahogging. Once you find a
good spot, the digging is easy.
Bring a floating basket to keep
track of your catch. Jody King
runs Come Clam With Me
workshops.
In order to be
harvested, a quahog
must have a minimum
one-inch hinge
width to its shell.
Pasta and
Clam Sauce
TRY JODY KING’S FAMILY
RECIPE AT HOME WITH YOUR
HARVESTED CATCH.
How To QUAHOG
TIPS FOR DIGGING AND HARVESTING CLAMS.
Twenty-seven-year veteran quahogger Jody King works with the Rhode Island DEM Division
of Fish and Wildlife’s Aquatic Resource Education program to conduct four to six Come
Clam With Me workshops per season that teach participants how to find, harvest and cook
shellfish. For more information about RI DEM’s Come Clam with Me workshops, contact
Kimberly Sullivan at [email protected].
“Scrub your clams and dry them off completely.
All you need is four simple items:
olive oil, garlic, basil and crushed red
pepper mixed in a bag or a bowl. Marry
those ingredients. Pour them over the
top of your clams once you have them
in a pot. Don’t add any wine, water or
beer. Turn the burner on high, shake your
clams up once, let them start steaming.
Once the clams start opening, all the
liquor gets dumped into the pan. You
will be amazed by how much liquor is in
there. When all those clams are open,
serve them over pasta or with a nice fresh
loaf of Italian bread. Dip your bread in and
you’re good to go.” —Jody King
PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP LEFT): WOLF MATTHEWSON; (RIGHT): JAMIE COELHO.
What to take: If you don’t have a bullrake,
King says, bring simple garden tools like
rakes, trowels or even a pitchfork. You can
purchase gear (rake, basket and gauge) at
a local hardware store or bait shop. Pack a
cooler with ice to keep your clams cold
after harvesting. And don’t forget a hat
and sunscreen.
How to do it: “Pick up a rake and settle it
down to the sandy bottom of the water.
You want the teeth in the bottom. Go
back and forth, softening up the bottom
until you hear something pop into the
rake. It’s either going to be a quahog or
a rock,” King says. “When you feel something
in it, pull it back up and shake it
underwater. The sand and gravel should
come out through the holes. What should
be left are rocks and quahogs. If you find
small ones, put them through the ring
[gauge]. Throw anything that falls
through the ring back in the water. That’s
an undersized juvenile. One inch at the
hinge is the minimum size that we can
take home. The small ones are my future
paycheck.”
Keep ’em cold: Put all the clams that
you catch in a floating basket or bucket,
take them home in a cooler or on ice and
enjoy! —J.C.
46 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020