I was fishing at Meadow grounds yesterday. We were close to shore when I spotted something half burried in the mud. So i told my dad to bring the boat closer so i could get it. I picked it up and it was a clam(dead). I see these things all the time in other places, but not near this big. I measured it when I got home. It is 8 1/2 inches from tip to tip. 4 inches from back to front. And as high as a baseball. I am working on getting pics. We had seen numerous other clams that were almost that size in that lake. Is it normal for a clam to grow that big?

Sure, and much larger also.

I swim around lakes and gather clams up from the bottom. They make exelent catfish bait. The bigger ones I've seen where around 6" long.

Yea it is common to snag one of those big ones. In most places taken or disturbing them is illegal or that just might be my state.

I found about a dozen one time in a pond i fish , we fried um and EWWWWWWWWWW  they aint like saltwater clams