But when it comes to their size, there are figures all over the board. One source stated: "Tiger sharks range in size from 8.8 to 24 feet long. The largest found weighed 6,800 lbs."

That top weight seems a bit high. The International Game Fish Association, which keeps records of recreational fish catches, lists one 1,780-pounder -- caught in 1964 by Walter Maxwell off the South Carolina coast -- as the largest tiger shark caught by an angler.

That's far shy of the estimate quoted above, but still massive for an oceanic predator.

Fans of the movie "Jaws" will remember the scene where the characters played by Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider dissect a big tiger shark caught by an angler seeking the reward for the man-eater that has terrorized their community. They pull out a mackerel, a small tuna and a Louisiana license plate that reads "Sportsman's Paradise."

That's a very accurate portrayal of tiger sharks' eating habits. They are the garbage collectors of the ocean and will eat anything.

The tiger shark's favored prey includes sea turtles, mackerel, stingrays, lobsters, crabs and oceanic birds. In parts of their range, sea snakes represent a large part of the diet of juvenile tigers. These sharks also scavenge, and researchers have found them with shoes, metal signs -- and, yes, license plates -- among various other debris.

Anglers wanting to catch tiger sharks should focus their efforts on large structure offshore, such as sunken ships, coral reefs and underwater plateaus rising above the Gulf's bottom. Drift large offerings, such as whole bonita or jack crevalle, which will turn off most smaller species, They pretty much guarantee that if something bites, it's huge and worth the effort.

Tigers may be the Gulf's largest frequent shark visitor, but of all sharks, bull sharks are the most dangerous. And, yes, that means they are more dangerous than great whites, tigers, makos, hammerheads and all other toothy predators.

The reason for their nasty reputation is twofold. To start with, they frequent shallow areas popular with fishermen and swimmers. Their range also includes the upper reaches of bay systems and freshwater rivers.

Of all sharks, bull sharks have the highest tolerance for fresh water and have been found in the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois and more than 1,000 miles up the Amazon.

This habit, on top of the fact they are widely distributed, puts bull sharks in close contact with people far more than the cold-water dwelling great whites and blue-water denizens like the mako and oceanic white-tipped shark.

Second, bull sharks are mean -- plain and simple. They have a terrible disposition and are responsible for most shark attacks along the Gulf Coast.

According to an article in Time magazine by Robert Hueter, director of the Center of Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., "Bull sharks have the highest level of testosterone in any animal, including lions and elephants. . . . Its lower spiked teeth are designed to hold prey, while the upper triangular serrated teeth gouge out flesh."

Catching bull sharks is not difficult. They frequent jetties, beachfronts, barrier islands and oil rigs in the near-shore Gulf of Mexico, often feeding on small sharks like the common Atlantic sharpnose.

"I've been fishing around the rigs on several occasions out of Cameron, La., and had an Atlantic sharpnose on, and then a big bull shark comes up and grabs it," said veteran shark angler Bill Killian. "It's quite a sight to see a shark big enough to eat another shark. That's pretty intense."

Killian likes to catch bull sharks around the oil rigs. But he said anglers who want to catch bull sharks must forget about catching other sharks:

"I like to catch any kind of big shark. But when the bulls show up, the other sharks tend to disappear. You will catch bunches of spinners around the rigs, and they will school. But when bulls show up, you will get bulls and pretty much only bulls when the big ones show up. They are the boss of the Gulf."