SAN ANTONIO -- A San Antonio man fishing in Port Aransas on Sunday reeled in an 809-pound tiger shark.

Ryan Spring, a deck installer from the Alamo City, caught the massive fish, which was 12 feet 7 inches in length, about five miles off the Texas coast using stingray wing as bait, he said.

"After five hours of fighting it, I finally saw it for the first time," Spring told the San Antonio Express-News on Monday. I was surprised it was a tiger shark, I thought it was a hammerhead."

The battle, which started around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, lasted nearly eight hours before he tied the shark to the boat, he said.

Spring's catch did not beat the state record for tiger shark, which is 1,129 pounds caught in 1992 by Chap Cain, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife. The world record is 1,785 pounds caught in 2004 off the coast of Australia, according to the International Game Fish Association.

Spring told KZTV he drives to Port Aransas to fish twice a year and that he's already working with someone to donate the meat from the fish to charity.

He was fishing with his father and friends.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker