KEY POINTS:
A rock fisherman was swept to his death by 2.5m swells at the northern end of Karekare Beach yesterday.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter, police helicopter and off-duty lifeguards all tried to retrieve the man's body, but surf conditions and its location close to rocks and the cliff face made it impossible.
He was the second rock fisherman to drown on Auckland's west coast this summer.
