'Please don't attack me, bro': Kayaker stalked by hungry great white shark

A fisherman who endured a terrifying eight minutes being stalked by a giant shark said it was just toying with him, even though it would not give up the chase.

Matt Wells took his kayak out into the waters around New Zealand's Bay of Islands, hoping to catch some yellowtail kingfish.

The fish in the area are known to be quite big, so when he saw some splashing behind the kayak, he got excited about hooking a winner.

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But as the splashing intensified, a dark shadow in the water next to his kayak got much bigger, much faster - and panic started to set in when Matt realised what it was.

Incredibly, Matt managed to capture the event on camera, where the panic can be heard in his voice.

"That's a great white, that's a great white shark behind me - please don't eat me bro," he can be heard saying.

"How do I get him to leave me alone? I have lost sight of him, I don't like that, I've lost sight of him - please keep me safe, keep me well and keep that shark from me."

Matt told Today he had already been back in the water, but there were a lot of emotions going through his mind.

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"I was a bit in shock, it was a whole lot of emotions hitting at once," he said.

"I was terrified, shocked, excited and well, just sort of in awe of the size of the animal that I'd just seen."

While he was panicked at the time, Matt said in hindsight, he was confident the shark was not out to get him.

"It crossed my mind, but to be quite honest, I don't think it was hunting me," he said.

"They can attack you, but they're a curious animal more than anything and really, I think he was just giving me a fright and having a bit of fun."

Hear Today's full chat with Matt and check out his incredible footage in the video above