Amateur fishermen say a 9-foot tiger shark made waves last week 30 miles off the coast of St. Petersburg.

The four men shot 20 minutes of video as Paul Colbert fought to reel the huge catch in with only a 50 pound fishing line.

"That was like pulling a frickin’ semi truck," Colbert said after the shark snapped his fishing pole in half and got away.

Colbert and three friends were fishing off the coast of St. Petersburg for grouper Saturday when they say the 9-foot long tiger shark snapped one line, then was hooked by Colbert's line.

"It bit my line completely in half there was nothing on the end of it, and within literally thirty seconds it was on his," Paul Bozarth said, who shot the video of the shark encounter.

The tiger shark was hooked at a depth of 76 feet.

In 20 minutes the group was able to pull the shark to the surface as well as steer the boat and chase it so it wouldn't break Colbert's line.

The tiger shark was only on the surface of the water for a short time before it dived deep, snapping Colbert's pole in half.

"Thank God that it actually did break and we didn’t try and muscle him into the boat because a shark that big could have wreaked havoc on this boat," Colbert said.

Tiger sharks are not uncommon for the Gulf of Mexico.

Male tiger sharks can grow to 15 feet long.

The group says it may return to the area 30 miles off the coast to try and hook the shark again.