If you should happen to be fortunate enough to travel to some of the fertile waters of the gulf, I highly recommend that you try to catch your own shrimp. Shrimp that you can buy fresh and local is delightful, but you have not lived until you have eaten a shrimp that you caught yourself. You can use a cast net or a drag net. I have only done this in and around Alligator Point Beach, Florida, but I have to imagine there are many places along the gulf to try it. A smaller net will be easier to drag, but you will be less likely to spook the fish/shrimp with a longer net. Some people like to leave the net out for a while; we prefer to just drag it up the coast a little ways and then come on in. Ask the locals if shrimp are running at all and what might be a good spot to try.
If you catch any mullet, KEEP THEM, even though locals may have told you they are trash fish. One of the great treats to many southerners is fried mullet backbones. Only eat them fresh…they don’t keep well at all in a freezer.