As far as bait goes, any bloody cut fish will work; I prefer mullet, because it's easy to get and cuts easily. Probably the all-time best shark bait, though, would be chunks of jack crevalle or bonita. Both of these exceedingly oily fish will coax a shark strike quicker than just about anything else will. I once caught more than 30 sharks with pieces of one 10-pound jack crevalle.

For catching larger sharks, a freelined live mullet or ladyfish is a wise choice. Of course, no live bait fished in a chum line for sharks in the Gulf will be "live" for long!)

My policy on retaining sharks takes the species and the condition of the fish after it's landed into account. In the past, before I started using circle hooks, the shark went in the ice chest if it was bleeding badly from the gills. Circle hooks just about eliminate this problem, though, and now I only take home a few Atlantic sharpnose sharks, which are easily the most numerous sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. I let the rest go. Even blacktips, which used to be commonplace in Texas waters, are declining, becoming quite scarce in some areas; I definitely release all blacktips. They're still relatively populous, but their average size is declining rapidly. It used to be easy to catch blacktips 4 and 5 feet long; no more.

In Texas waters, you can only retain one shark per day, and that's plenty, as they have no bones (cartilage is their substitute) and produce more meat per pound of whole fish than anything else.

RED SNAPPER
The red snapper fishing calendar is a short one: A federal closure initiated by the National Marine Fisheries Service mandates a season running from April 21 through Oct. 31.

Summer is the toughest time to catch snappers, because the larger fish tend to venture farther offshore. Anglers working offshore rigs, wrecks and natural reefs find the fish weighing 15 or more pounds from 25 to 60 miles offshore.

If you can safely get 40 or 50 miles out, you should be able to get away from a lot of the immediate pressure and get into the really big fish. The prime baits are cut cigar minnows or large jigs like the Snapper Slapper Pulsator tipped with cigar minnows or squid.

Come fall, the fishing improves somewhat, with some migration of snappers back to rigs nearer shore. A problem arises when this migration coincides with the first major cold fronts of the year -- and that means rough seas. Anglers in a position to pursue fall snappers should use the same tactics appropriate at any other time of the year.

You might also want to consider chumming. It's a great method for snapper fishing, but during spring and summer, sharks are prevalent and are apt to come in, thus shutting down your snapper fishing. As above, cut up chunks of menhaden or some other oily fish and throw them overboard to attract snappers. When you do, give them an offering of bait, and they'll usually respond with considerable intensity.

Anglers who feel that they can't afford a private charter may want to give party boats in their area a call. The charge to go snapper fishing on the large boats is around $60 per person, but the size of fish that you might catch can be surprising.

Since party boats often fish around reefs loaded with bait-stealing triggerfish, here's a piece of advice: Fish with a huge chunk of bait or with a live fish. That'll keep some of the smaller snappers away, and it'll take the triggers a while to eat it. Many times a big sow snapper will come up to run the thieves off before they can finish the job.

Then the battle's on -- and if the angler wins, he goes home with a big smile on his face and some tasty snapper filets.

And in the end, that's what fishing's all about!