How do you guys know for sure what kind of shark you have caught? I caught 2 and a half this morning and let a nice bull shark go because I just wasn't SURE what it was until I got back home and could look at pictures. The first shark I had got bitten off by a bigger shark right behind the boat. After that I landed a 29" black tip. Maybe I should have kept that one. He would have probably tasted better. The bull shark was at least 6' and put up a very good fight. Either way. The 2 that were complete got released unharmed. Also, what is the best way to unhook them to be caught later. With out losing a finger? We had a bit of a rodeo for a minute trying to get the hook out of his mouth. All 3 sharks were hooked in the corner of the mouth.


Are there few enough of the NON allowable species that if I have a good feeling it's good I should keep it?

There are some good shark ID charts from TPWD http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_v3400_1162.pdf I keep them printed (in color) in a small binder on my boat for shark ID. Really it's going to be experience; the more often you catch & see sharks, the easier it will be to ID them correctly.

If you aren't sure, don't keep it.

I printed off that page and put it in a ziplok in my CC. How about hook removal?

The best way to release them I found is to use a circle hook. Preferably one that is not stainless steel. Just cut the leader and hook will eventually fall out.

that would get expensive really quick.
maybe try a really long pair of needlenose pliers?i've never caught anything bigger than 2 feet though so i dont know haha

How big was the one that got half eaten? Has anyone ever caught a thresher in Texas waters? I saw a lot on the east coast have yet to see one in the gulf.

The one that was half eaten was 2-3'. It looked like a small black tip. My thoughts exactly on the hooks. I did just pop the swivel on the hook and left it in. I had long needle nose but it's still pretty close to the teeth. I mostly use circle hooks and that's what we caught these on.

if there big, put them on the ground, and pull up there nose, get another person to pull them out with long pliers, if the hook is behind the 2nd row of teeth then ur gonna have ahard time pulling them out and u should just cut it, pulling the nose up doesnt prevent thrashing but it prevents the shark from closing its mouth so even if u get close, the worst ull get is a small cut , but no lost fingers, both people should wear gloves and this should make things 99 precent safe, if your on a boat and u dont want to lift the shark over board then lift only the head over, dont lift it past the fin dorsal fin, other wise the weight of the shark will be too heavy and u wont be able to pull out the hook ,or u might rips its mouth,(its cus things are lighter in water)

If you are planning on only catch and release, grind the barb off, it makes it easier for the fish to get rid of it. I also only use circle hooks, and I usually just cut the leader on larger ones.

I don't have one, but have seen people using a very long hook remover with success, with practice you can get pretty good with one of those, you still have to have the fish under control and it usually takes two people with larger fish, but it keeps the person dehooking a little safer, especially if that fish gets away from the person holding it.

One of my passions in life is the study of sharks. I tag for 2 different research programs and I have put in countless hours studying sharks. I shark fish as often as I can. To be honest, I even have a hard time sometimes. Lots of guys who shark fish regularly have a hard time. I post on a couple dedicated shark fishing forums and ID threads pop up every now and then and guys who are big names in shark fishing have difficulty very often.

First, to answer your last question there, NO! Don't keep a shark unless you can positively identify it. Think of it this way. If you were out hunting and you saw an animal that you weren't sure of what it was and whether it was legal or not would you pull the trigger on it? I hope most people's answer would be no. Sharks from the protected species list are caught all the time. Especially in the early spring when the sandbars are thick.

I think the biggest key is not learning all the species of sharks possible, but instead to learn the few "desirable" species well. I wrote an article for my website with that thinking in mind. Check it out. The desirable species for the table are makos (which you will very rarely see close to shore), blactips (which can be confused with spinners so also learn spinners), atlantic sharpnose, and bonnetheads. Most people regret keeping a bull shark or any shark over 5' because they don't eat good.

One of the big confusing factors in texas is there are 2 groups of sharks with different length limits. 3 species fall into the group that have a minimum length of 24". Then everything else except protected species fall into the group that has a minimum of 64". There are sharks in the 64" group that closely resemble sharks in the 24" group that can get you in a lot of trouble if you mistake them for eachother. If you accidently keep a 36" spinner that you thought was a blacktip, you could get a big fine.

Here is the article if you want to check it out. I probably need to revise it a little:
http://lostboysblog.com/2012/08/12/sharkid/

One more word of advice. If any fish with a length limit gets its head or tail bit off or some how detached during the fight, you cannot keep that fish anymore. The head and tail have to be in tact until you have reached your final destination so that a game warden can verify the length. I really think most game wardens aren't going to give you too much trouble about a shark bit fish that is clearly legal, but they could if they wanted to.

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who struggles with the ID. My first shark was a hammerhead so I had that one nailed. haha I thought I had a decent grasp on what I was looking for but once I was actually looking at them I lacked the confidence. I didn't keep any of them, even the bitten one. How about using the head for bait? Would that be legal? As it was, we caught all 3 on big croaker so we kept using those for bait.

Hammerheads can be tricky too! There are many different species of hammers haha!

You can't use any gamefish for bait, so using a shark head for bait would be a no no. Any fish that isn't on the gamefish list can be used as bait though.

Here is the list of gamefish:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/general-rules-regulations/definitions

You'll notice that a lot of species with length and bag limits aren't on this list like flounder and sheepshead. That's why you're allowed to gig those species or bow fish for them. Also why you see a lot of shark fishermen using sheepshead for bait.

All these suggestions have been incredibly helpful for me as well. To add my 2 cents...shark meat is incredibly delicious, but I usually don't keep anything over 4-5 feet. Reasons for this are that I probably wont eat 80 pounds of shark meat, and those big breeders need to breed. If you do intend to keep a shark make sure you bleed it either with a cut in the tail or on top of the head and hang it in a way that helps it bleed. As mentioned before dont cut the head or tail off, but make incisions to help it bleed so the meat isnt spoiled