A good way to catch the highly pressure snapper here is to fish with a large jig like a Snapper Slapper Pulsator tipped with a cigar minnow. Let this heavy jig sink to the bottom and move it in a straight up-and-down fashion. When a big snapper hits it, you'll know it because your rod will double over. Snapper don't play around when they hit jigs.

Other key areas for snapper in state waters include the coastline along Matagorda and Aransas Pass, where wrecks and artificial reefs draw snapper in close.

DOLPHIN
The world "dolphin" means two things along the Texas Coast. The first is the obvious marine mammal that thrills visitors at marine parks and even once had its own television show, "Flipper." The other is a beautifully marked, highly sought-after game fish that is present within reach of small boat anglers in Texas waters during the summer months. (It also goes under the name "dorado" and "mahi-mahi" but we'll stick with plain old "dolphin.")

Dolphin like to feed in open water; most of them are caught around current rips and weed lines.

Rips are areas where large currents meet in the Gulf and they usually are spotted by noticing a waterline, where darker water meets lighter water. These rips bring together lots of baitfish, which the dolphin prey on with great sport and enthusiasm. Anglers who want to catch these rip-running dolphin should target them by trolling along the rip with large, bright-colored trolling plugs such as you might use in fishing for wahoo or sailfish. Dolphin can grow to impressive sizes, and so catching fish weighing upwards of 50 pounds is not uncommon. Don't be afraid to fish large lures for them.

Dolphin often feed along weedlines and can be seen near the surface striking at baitfish and darting in and out of the weeds. Most of those are what anglers call "chicken dolphin" -- small fish from 3 to 10 pounds. "We get a lot of action on chicken dolphin out there in the summer," said Capt. Ryan Warhola, an offshore fishing guide.

"The great thing about it is you can fish for them with trout tackle," he said. "I like to fish with soft-plastic shrimp tails or minnow imitations, and you can sight-cast to them. A lot of times they will be hiding right under the edge of the weeds and by pitching a soft plastic under them, you can pull them out and get their attention."

Currently there are no size or bag limits on dolphin, which will likely make them a more popular target for offshore anglers as snapper regulations tighten. These fish have what is arguably the finest-tasting flesh of any fish and they're commonly sold in fine restaurants. They're also highly beautiful, but that beauty does not last long once they're out of the water. These fish go through multiple color changes and within a span of minutes change from green/yellow to blue back to green/yellow to almost black. If you want a photo with your dolphin, take it quickly, or it'll look as if you are holding something that has been dead for weeks.