Great white shark circles father and son's fishing boat off Killarney

But it took more than 60 years for him to experience one himself.

And luckily, the 77-year-old's son Sam was on hand to capture evidence to show his mates at the yacht club.

The father and son headed 1.5km off the shore at Killarney in search of snapper.

"Dad had been to that exact same spot two days prior and caught some nice snapper," Mr Goldstraw said.

The inclement weather almost made the pair rethink their decision to head out.

"When we got out there it was pouring rain," Mr Goldstraw said. "We were about 1.5 kilometres straight off the Killarney reef."

Mr Goldstraw said the two were considering turning back.

"We were getting wet and there were no fish biting," he said.

"There was thunder and lightning and we thought it wasn't a great idea to be out at sea with lightning."

Mr Goldstraw said there was a sudden change in the weather.

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"The rain stopped and the sea went really glassy," he said. "I was pulling up my bait and the shark came up to the side of the boat and scared the bejeezus out of me," Mr Goldstraw laughed.

"Really calmly it started to circle the boat and it stayed beside us for a good 30 minutes," Mr Goldstraw said.

"It was so serene and calm and not aggressive in any way."

The two believe the shark was about five metres long.

Mr Goldstraw immediately reached for his phone and began to film.

"I was leaning over the side taking the video and dad was saying 'you know Sam, that could launch at you'."

Mr Goldstraw said his dad said he had never seen anything like it in his decades of fishing.

When they arrived back in Port Fairy, Mr Goldstraw headed to the yacht club to tell his mates and share the evidence.

However, he was home shortly after, asking his son how he could access the video-proof on his son's Instagram account.

"Dad said he had never seen anything like it - that it was a once in a lifetime experience," Mr Goldstraw said.

Well-known Warrnambool fisherman Peter Sandow said there were big sharks in south-west waters.

"People ask 'do we see sharks?' There's more and more about because you can't touch them," he said.

"White pointers are a protected species. If you spend time on or in the water it's only a matter of time before you come across a shark."

Mr Sandow said local abalone divers had been staying away from Lady Julia Percy Island, off Yambuk, as there were two white pointer sharks hunting seals in the area.

He said the shark on the video would be around 500 kilograms, equating to "hundreds and hundreds" of pieces of flake.