Fishing Forum

So has anyone seen a freshwater shellfish this big ? I found it on the shore of the local Lake, and I've never seen anything quite like it? I did some research and I think it might be an Oregon Floater Mussel.

I am a new member to this forum and I look forward to sharing fishing reports and info, and meeting members!
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Have seen them all the time in our irrigation canal on our farm when the water goes out. Always wondered how they would taste but spooked of the water quality. Seen some bigger too.
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Catch them all the time in the snake.
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Some of the streams have a lot of them.
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From what i understand that in north america all fresh water muscels are edible. wonder how they taste?
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Interesting.. it seems they are common around here. Thanks for the info.. I am surprised that I have never seen or just not taken notice of them, because this one was big. I'd sure like to see a live one!
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They are native, but some areas seem to have more than others.
[url "https://fishandgame.idaho.gov/content/question/are-fresh-water-mussels-good-eat"]https://fishandgame.idaho.gov/...ter-mussels-good-eat[/url]

BTW....Welcome to BFT!

This link didn't show....hope it does this time.
http://www.fws.gov/idaho/home/snailguide...9topkg.pdf
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I remember my U. of Idaho Anthro prof telling us that although the Sheepeater tribes relied heavily on freshwater mussels as a food source, they taste terrible. I believe he was talking about the mussels out of the Salmon. Mike
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There are some places on the Snake River that I fish where the bottom is almost completely covered with their shells. This photo was taken through about 2' of water.

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I've tried them a couple of times and they really do taste terrible. After the first experience it took 25 yrs to try them again. Results were the same the second time!! I snagged one last week on the snake and ended up using it for bait. Not even a nibble. Guess the fish don't like them either.
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The sturgeon seem to key on them, I don't know if they eat them or the rest of the critters that hang around a mussel bed. I've caught live ones on plastics while bass fishing. Tick bite as they snap shut. Nasty tasting, but that was 30 years ago.
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[#0000FF]Never tried them for the big white sturgeon but did catch a couple of the less common green sturgeon on them in the lower Klamath River in northern California. Was on a two day drift for fall run steelhead and stopped at a big hole below a rapid. The guide rigged up a big rod and then dug a few of the big mussels out of the mud at the mouth of an inflowing creek. Put a couple on a big circle hook and chucked it out. Went bendo pretty fast. The green sturgeon seemed to zero in on those mussels in a hurry. Landed two hefty six footers. They are a lot thicker in the body than white sturgeon.

When I was a kid in Idaho Falls I tried using some of the smaller mussels I could find in the bottom mud of Willow Creek...when it used to run through town. Only caught one trout on them but did get a few ugly suckers. Never tried eating them though, although I have probably eaten my body weight in salt water mussels. Those is good.
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We use to get some out of a stream called warm spring in by alturus lake in the sawtooth region, we use to take them and filter the water for a couple days adding corn starch... they were.... well.... edible.... but i dont think they were great, my uncle loved them and we had a blast gathering them.
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[#0000FF]I had an uncle that recommended a recipe something like carp/brick chowder...only substituting mussels for the carp. Boil up a bunch of potatoes, carrots, celery, bacon and mussels...with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Add a brick for the last half hour. Then eat the brick and throw out the rest of it.

There are quite a few different species of fresh water mussels. Depending on the species and the quality of the water/mud from which you get them they can be edible. But, as you say, it is a good idea to keep them in fresh clean water for a few days to let them "purge" the sand and gunk in their gizzards.

After that it is purely a matter of personal taste. Hey, some folks eat almost anything and think it is great.

Sushi? Now why would anybody wanna eat their bait?
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We found a clam in the mud at the Shelley Pond once. It was a decent size, maybe the palm of my hand, but I think we let it go when we couldn't find any others. I was hoping to eat it, maybe why it didn't dawn on me to use it as bait.
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That video is WAY COOL!

That is a cool video. I have tried clams for cats in Milner with no luck, and I have tried them twice for sturgeon. I caught a sturgeon so I am 50% on them. Ron
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Awesome video! Thanks Iliketofish. That is some remarkable footage. Those mussels are trying to fool the bass just like us! I wouldn't have thought they were that complex. I have a new found respect for them for sure. Very cool!
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I thought it was pretty cool too! The mussels we have locally aren't quite so fancy, but they still need to use the fish for their early life stage.

And I'm not going to pretend to be an expert at mussel identification, but I think you are probably right about the monster mussel you found being some kind of floater. My friend Google helped me find this page which was pretty informative. There's a link to download a field guide in PDF form: http://www.xerces.org/publications/ident...sel-guide/

Oh and welcome to the forum! Hope to hear more from you in the future!
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Mussels and clams are filter feeders. The pass a lot of water (way more than you might think) through their bodies every day. They also absorb a lot of heavy metals and polutants. Before you eat one, I would think about the concentrated amounts of bad stuff in their meat. Just a thought...
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