A 'monster' shark gave a fisherman the fright of his life when it popped its head out of the water in a shallow lake.

Axar.az reports that, Bernard Richter was fishing at the wharf at Richmond River in Ballina, NSW when he threw some snapper in for bait.

But what the bait brought in was much bigger than a fish.

'Not your usual arvo out fishing the river,' he posted to Facebook after the shark sighting.

'Threw some snapper frames in the water with Benny and this bloke rocked up!

'Defiantly a once in a lifetime experience!'

Mr. Richter shared a video of the exciting moment to Facebook on Sunday.

He described the shark as a 'monster'.

A monster shark right in front of us... we couldn't believe our eyes,' he told The Northern Star.

'It was huge and we think it was eight or nine foot.'

Some comments on Facebook suggested it could be a grey nurse shark.