[philnam]

1st question:
Went out on the Mad Gaffer last fall for tog and it was a great trip. Want to go out again somewhere even though the limit is now 4. With this cold spell is there hope? Me and my grandson have the tog fever bad. We are not very up on tog science, but willing to learn. And, we like to eat the tog.
2nd question:
Bought some chowder clams (3-4 inches across) at the market. Can anyone tell me how to flush the sand out? I heard putting them in salt water works. Is this true? I want to make chowder, and the meat to not be chewy.

 

[captbill35]

1) The No.Jersey boats are still fishing for them. The water may still be warm enough on the bottom to catch them.
2) You can steam them open and rinse them if using for chowder. The other way is to put the live clams in a bucket of cold water and add some corn meal. They flush themselves out on thier own. This way works for small clams, I'm not sure about chowders.
Hope this helps.

 

[Hand's B&T]

A couple of head boats are running offshore to the rock piles catching mongo sea bass and a customer fo mine fished greenies and caught a 14lb Togasaurus and I read some reports that there have been some wolfish pollack and others caught. Check the offshore forum for info on boats running. Thanks Tim

 

[JacKFish56]

Philjam

FYI, the Seacher-II sails open for blackfish, fri/sat/sun/mon out of 18th st, Barnegat Inlet. Just call the nite before. 609-698-0773.

 

[JacKFish56]

Searcher-II, sorry.

 

[chunking]

Shuck the clams by hand and pour the juice through a fine strainer to remove the grit. Take the clam meat and wash them in water to remove any imbedded sand and grit.

Steaming the clam open only toughens it up. Also when you steam clams open you shrink the meat and any sand or grit can become stuck in the many folds of meat. Much of the flavor you get in your chowder comes from the juice so make sure you filter the grit out as much as you can.

 

[stonerod]

Tried a trick last lear on some very large bay clams --- wanted to make chowder.
Put them in the kitchen sink, put in 2-cups of vinegar and filled with cold water.
Left in for 1/2 hour and found sink bottom loaded with sand.
Rinsed and cooked. Still had some sand but it was all at the bottom of the pot.
Got this tip from a restaurant in Cape Cod years ago but never used.