Oscar Ford knew he had snagged something big.
But he never imagined it would be a great white shark.
The Victorian carpenter was with three inexperienced cousins, two of them children, when he snagged the giant fish off Barwon Heads on Sunday.
READ MORE: 'I didn't worry': Bondi hero opens up about moment he bravely confronted gunman
"It's a f---ing white, holy shh, holy crap, I've caught a white off Barwon Heads," he screamed as cameras recorded the epic catch.
The carpenter battled for more than half an hour to reel the shark in close.
Every moment of the once-in-a-lifetime experience was captured on an array of GoPro cameras.
"He's biting the boat, get that on film, get that on film," he can be heard saying.
The fishers even dunked one of the cameras into the water for an incredible closer look at the beast.
"I was just in disbelief, I was like this is insane, I would never have thought this would happen," Ford told 9News.
READ MORE: Prime minister rejects plea from Bondi shooting victims' families
"I had so much emotion, so much adrenaline running through me.
"I was feeling a million different emotions, I was feeling on top of the world."
Ford pushed off Ocean Grove early on Sunday to fish for tuna but switched to a snapper mark near Barwon Heads after a quiet few hours to set a bait balloon.
"We chucked it out and 45 minutes later we see a fin sort of just circling the balloon and then out of nowhere it just started splashing the water, going crazy," he said.
Great whites are a protected species so Ford never brought his catch on board, cutting it loose to go free.
"As soon as we saw it we were going crazy, it was just such an amazing experience to see such a big beautiful animal," he said.