Family shocked after they hook onto a GREAT WHITE

Four Robertson family members were ready to call it a day after fishing for snapper 100m off the Te Atatu Peninsula in Auckland's Waitemata Harbour on Monday.

Only in 2.5 metres of water, Mat Robertson felt something grab onto his bait and his uncle was certain it must have been kahawai fish but they were soon in for a huge surprise. 

When Mat said, 'S***, I can't hold this,' and handed the rod to his more experienced brother, Jaan, - the giant predator leapt out of the water.

'I thought it was a freakin' whale at first, it was so big,' Jaan told The New Zealand Herald.

Jann said he screamed at the other three to quickly pull the anchor out of the water. 

'But you could definitely see it was a shark by its underbelly - it was really white and you could see the teeth in its mouth.'

In an attempt to not hurt the shark, the four fisherman hauled in the anchor and backed the boat towards the animal. 

'I don't want to kill an animal like that or hurt it, so if I can get it closer to the boat and cut the line off at its mouth it's going to have a better chance of surviving,' Jaan said. 

'But then it did another jump and the line broke. I think it landed on the line.' 

Experts think it could be the same great white shark that has been spotted around Auckland in the past few days. 

(dailymail.co.uk)