A FEARLESS dad ended up wrestling a monstrous 12 and a half foot tiger shark after the beast chomped on his line during a fishing trip.

Christian Haltermann, 36, ended up reeling in the mammoth predator while he was enjoying a day by the water at Padre Island National Seashore off the coast of Texas.

Christian Haltermann caught the tiger shark while fishing with his 8-year-old son

Christian managed to wrestle the shark to shore after a 2 and a half hour battle

He released the beast back into the sea after tagging her and measuring her

The dad was taking his 8-year-old son on a fishing trip as it was same place his own father had taught him to fish.

Christian is a regular visitor to the park – and attends twice a month to kick back and try to get a catch.

But he was stunned when he felt the massive shark tug on his line.

By far being the biggest thing he ever caught, Christian wrestled the creature to the shore in a two and a half hour long battle.

Christian, from Kyle, Texas, told The Caller Times: “I instantly knew it was a monster. We knew it was a big one for sure.”

He then posed with it before releasing it back into the ocean.

The dad had placed a bait of a 10-pound stingray in the water and then waited with his custom 9-foot rods.

And then he ended up fighting the 150 minute battle with the catch.

His son went for help and brought back another two campers who helped Christian manage to real in the massive monster.

Tiger sharks are some of the fiercest predators in the ocean – being armed with a powerful jaw of 48 razor sharp teeth.

The creatures have been recorded at sizes of up to 16.5ft.

Luckily for his new toothy pal though, Christian had no interest in keeping him – and instead let her go on her way.

Christian volunteers at the park and takes measurements of any sharks he catches and tags them.

He determined the shark was a female, recorded its mammoth 12.5ft size and then released her back into the sea.

“I don’t ever want to remove them from the water because the priority is getting released,” Christian said.

“We got the hooks removed, took a couple quick pictures and sent her on her way, but she was super lively and she swam off real strong.”

He added; “I have quite a few tiger sharks over the ten-foot mark and even more over the nine foot, but nothing over 12.

“That was a new benchmark that we were trying to achieve and it’s so cool that we got that.”