I've dug truckloads of softshell clams back in Maine. We would put them in a crate, usually a lobster trap that had been shut off, and let them hang off a dock for a couple of days. That worked out the grit real good. Some guys would just put them in a 5 gallon bucket and add some corn meal to the water. The clams would pull in the meal and move the grit out. Seemed like a waste of meal to me. We also dug hen clams, kinda like a big quahog I guess. They were about 10" across, thick shelled, and real meaty. Had to go after them on a big minus tide. Those got cut up and cleaned, then chopped up real small and made into clam fritters. Damn they were good with a proper cocktail.
