Large, double-hander blacktips scour the flats. Release with care.

They call it “presence.” An aura that defies description yet defines a memorable performer. Musicians, actors, motivational speakers; the good ones—the ones that stand out in a yawning sea of sameness—all have it.

Blacktip sharks have such presence—that special something that sets them apart from Florida’s other coastal sharks. Watch them in the water and their style is unmistakable. Unlike the lazy, ribbonlike saunter of a nurse shark, or the frantic bottom scavenging of the bonnethead, blacktips swim with authority. They have a Sean Connery kind of thing happening and they know it.

On a shark outing last year in lower Tampa Bay, Capt. Art Paiva and I had ample opportunity to observe the blacktip persona at close range. For one thing, the dark accents on the dorsal, pectoral and caudal (tail) fins show clearly even at a distance. Moreover, a blacktip’s caramel brown skin tone is much darker than the soft gray coloration of its common neighbor with the funny shaped head.

First behavioral difference we noticed is that we had barely dropped anchor and we were hip deep in bonnetheads. When conditions and location favor their presence, the sharks known also as shovelnose are shameless in their pursuit of an easy meal.

Blacktips, though, always arrive fashionably late. They’ll patrol your perimeter just within eyesight before suddenly rushing in for a closer look. Despite a highly aggressive nature, these guys are cautious, calculating and very perceptive. It goes along with the whole “presence” deal.

Okay, I can hear the rumbling. “What about the bull shark?” Granted, bulls are the undisputed heavyweight champs when it comes to a legitimately dangerous, give-you-nightmares kind of critter. But when’s the last time you saw a bull shark leaping and spinning like an Olympic gymnast? That’s all part of the blacktip package: attitude, agility and, oh yes, appetite.

Theirs is an indiscriminate voracity, which often interferes with other fishing operations. Kingfish anglers hate to find their favorite reef covered up with blacktips, while grouper diggers lament the presence of mid-depth interlopers.

Even bonefish anglers in the Keys have their unintentional run-ins with blacktips who find a fresh shrimp too tasty to pass up. (Reviewing the techniques employed in each scenario yields clues to effective blacktip techniques.)

Now, if you’re trying to catch blacktip sharks, Paiva suggests playing upon the blacktip’s preference for baitfish. Watch for scenarios in which tides and structure congregate forage and blacktips won’t be far away.

During the summer, when Paiva starts his snook trips by netting scaled sardines (“whitebait”) and threadfin herring (“greenbacks”) at the range markers near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, he generally makes time for some shark action. Moving out to the edge of the Egmont ship channel, he’ll chunk threadfins to draw up Spanish mackerel. After catching one of the spotted raiders, he’ll cut the mackerel in half, hook it on a shark rig, fling it upcurrent and wait for the signal.

“I’ll put the rod in a holder and let it sit until I hear drag smoking off the reel,” Paiva said.

Offshore, you’ll find blacktips patrolling natural and artificial reefs and any other bottom structure that holds baitfish. Here, your best bet is to anchor upcurrent of the structure and set out a spread of live baitfish. Stagger your spread with half freelined and half fished with just enough weight to keep them down in the water column. Once you spot a few sharks finning, try floating a couple of baits for those cruising topside.

In lesser depths, look for blacktips anywhere a shallow feeding zone like a grassflat borders deep water. Channel edges, cuts and passes all offer likely scenarios in which the shark can rise out of deep water to hunt exposed prey on the flats.

Paiva favors the first half of the incoming tide, when forage species move over the white sandy bars to reach grassflats. Profiled against the lighter bottom, smaller fish make easy targets. Float live sardines to keep them from hiding in the grass and it won’t take long for the shark to find its mark.