Clams

[Bolete]

I see freshwater clams in many of my fishing holes. Are these edible? Anyone here ever tried them?

[jacenbeers]

When I was a teenager we collected a bunch from a sandbar in the Nechako River in BC. We gave them to my friend's Dad who knows how to cook seafood. They were horrible.

[HunterDave]

DO NOT EAT FRESHWATER CLAMS!!!! They filter the toxins out of the water and you have a good chance of getting really sick. Eat the crayfish if you're hungry.

[Ronbill]

HunterDave provides good advice on the matter. Many lakes support freshwater mussel (not actually clams) populations but you should not consume them.
Mussels filter feed rather indiscriminately and ingest whatever planktonic algae exist in the water column. Mussels from low nutrient lakes feed primarily on harmless algae and likely wouldn't make you sick.
However, mussels from higher nutrient lakes with planktonic algae dominated by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are another matter.
Cyanobacterial toxins can accumulate to a small extent. More importantly though, the mussels actually don't digest most cyanobacteria and rather compact the healthy cyanobacteria cells/colonies into pseudofeces that are excreted. When consuming mussels collected from cyanobateria impacted lakes, you are also likely to consume the cyanobacteria in the gut of the mussels and the toxins contained within. The liver toxin, microcystin, that is commonly produced in Alberta Lakes is stable to heat and will not degrade or breakdown with boiling.

[walking buffalo]

Back in the 80's we used to collect them from Lake Invermere.

We would keep them in a tub for a few days, feeding them oatmeal and changing the water a couple times a day. This would purge the sand and clean up the taste. They were pretty good, but not nearly as good as saltwater species.

I would take heed of the pollution concerns mentioned. Choose your source carefully.

[Bolete]

Thanks for the info.