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Texas Fisherman Catches 809-Pound Tiger Shark In Gulf

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 09:29 PST, Aug 5, 2014

A San Antonio angler brought in the catch of a lifetime when he landed a massive tiger shark, weighing 809 pounds, just 5 miles from Port Aransas in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday night.

KSAT 12 reports that Ryan Springs, who calls the North Side of San Antonio home, hooked the shark just after 8:30 on Saturday night, August 2. “It was like playing tug-of-war with a giant,” Springs said, adding that while he was fighting the shark, he had no idea how large, or what species, it really was. “When we finally saw him after five hours, we saw it was a tiger shark,” he added.

The battle with the animal took Springs seven hours in total, before he was able to lash the tiger shark to the side of his boat, bringing it back to shore. “He’s pulling us and the water is just slapping against the back of boat,” Springs related, saying the battle with the shark was “like a scene from the movie ‘Jaws.'”As Discovery News points out, the shark measured 12 feet, 7 inches in length.

Tiger sharks are solitary hunters, with a reputation for eating just about anything. Among the living species of shark, they rank in size only behind the whale shark, basking shark, great hammerhead, and great white shark. Tiger shark attacks are rare, but are often deadly. As such, the tiger is considered one of the most dangerous species of shark. A kayaker in Maui lost her life in an attack last fall that officials believe was perpetrated by a tiger shark, as The Inquisitr reported.

Springs said that he prides himself on being an ecologically conscious fisherman, saying “I’m not trying to hurt the fish or kill him or just get rid of him.” To him, fishing is a sport that is hard to describe:

“It’s hard to explain this thing about a fisherman fighting a fish. You’re probably just talking to yourself but you feel like you’re talking to the fish and saying things you probably can’t say on TV.”

After handing out some of his catch to friends and family, Springs donated most of the tiger shark to a local shelter for the homeless.

[Image via My San Antonio]

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