Angler swept out to sea after excitement of catch

An angler's excitement at hooking two fish on a single line turned to tragedy yesterday when the man was swept out to sea trying to retrieve his catch.

Rescuers were unable to resuscitate Sun Tiezhi, 43, from Hamilton, who was tossed around in rough waters off Raglan's Papanui Pt for 30 minutes before being winched out by Middlelands rescue helicopter staff.

Senior constable Kevin Holmes said the spot where the man was fishing with two friends was notoriously dangerous and had claimed more than a dozen lives.

He said the man's distraught friend told him the pair had discussed the dangers of fishing in the area just days earlier.

"His friend told him it was a dangerous place to fish, but they went anyway."

He said the part-time angler had been swept out to sea while trying to pull in a couple of fish he had snared.

Mr Holmes believed that focusing on getting the fish in rather than on safety appeared to have cost Mr Sun his life.

Yinong Li, 57, drowned at the same spot in March last year after being swept from rocks.