Replying to Shellfishing gabber

Been spending more time near the ocean, and it blows my mind how many opportunities there are to shellfish.

Anyways, thought I'd start up a thread about it.

Dungeness Crab:
I prefer to rent a couple traps and crab off the dock while drinking beer all day in a lawn chair. Renting the boat is a cool experience, but a bit pricey. To cook them, I make a spicy boil and go to town on them whole. For less adventurous eaters, full clean and chill with cocktail sauce and lemon.

Mussels:
Ya just kinda go out there and pick em with a screwdriver. On a warm day, I don't mind getting soaked in ocean water to my waist. To prepare, soak in cold water for 20 minutes or however long it takes to scrape each one over with a knife to clean it. I like either grilling them very lightly till they just barely open, or steaming into vongole.

Purple Varnish Clams:
The invasive species are easy digging, albeit a bit sharp. Gotta keep em alive soaking in ice water for like at least 48 hours cuz they're really sandy. Steamed in salty water and served with a bit of the broth to dip in to wash any sand off before biting.

Softshell clams:
Kinda similar to digging razor clams where you look for the pinky sized show and race it. Soak for at least 3 hours. The west coast ones contain arsenic, so you gotta shuck em and trim the skin off the valve.

Razor clams:
Can never seem to get to them when the tide is low enough.

Crawdaddies:
Back in Colorado, we'd find a lake that's infested with them and throw traps out. At our spot, we'd grill em on the fire ring at the campsite.