Body found on rock ledge after Snapper Point fishing incident

The rock fisherman's body was found at about 7am on a rock ledge off Frazer Beach in Munmorah State Conservation Area.

Police said the man was wearing a lifejacket, but it came off in the water.

Central Coast Surf Lifesaving president Stuart Harvey said Snapper Point was "one of the most dangerous spots in NSW, if not the country to be fishing at".

"The fisherman was wearing a lifejacket, which is good to see," Mr Harvey said.

"But unfortunately, he fell in, got caught up in a wave that washed onto a little bombora that was just off the rock shelf and the lifejacket came off.

"It's a tragic lot of circumstances."

People witnessed the man go under the water.

"Unfortunately it was a body recovery operation pretty much straight away," Mr Harvey said.

It's been speculated that the man's lifejacket may not have been done up correctly. Experts say a zipped-up and clipped-up lifejacket doesn't come off.

Emergency services were called to the site after the rock fisherman was swept off rocks at about 8am on Saturday.

The search for the man continued until nightfall on Saturday and resumed on Sunday morning.

Mr Harvey said the ocean was putrid due to the floods.

"I don't get why you'd go fishing with the water quality the way it is," he said.

"The Hawkesbury is flushing out."

He usually swims every day but won't swim at the moment.

"It's raw sewage being flushed out there. Fishing is a great sport, but we need to be safe and understand the elements."

Mark Hutchings, executive director of NSW Maritime, had recently urged people to avoid rock fishing during the dangerous conditions that had emerged in the past fortnight with extreme weather.

Mr Harvey said there was "a bit of swell" around on Saturday, with the surf "up and down".

"You need to be able to read that surf and have the correct equipment - footwear and a lifejacket," he said.

He said the alarm was raised straight away after the man was swept into the water, but "it's a remote location".

"You fall in the water there, nine out of 10 times you don't come back," he said.

He said those wearing a lifejacket properly "should be able to float".

"We've found that if they're floating for 45 minutes, some people just give up. It becomes too traumatic.

"If you fish in those locations, you need to be extremely careful and competent in what you're doing.

"The idea is stay calm, relax, go to a good spot and hopefully help is on the way."

A post-mortem examination will be conducted this week to confirm the man's identity and determine the cause of death.

The search was conducted by police, with help from Marine Rescue NSW, Surf Life Saving NSW and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Surf Life Saving NSW told the Newcastle Herald in 2019 that nine drownings had occurred at the rock-fishing spot in the past decade.

Over that time, there had been 35 major emergency callouts, major rescues or call-outs to the spot.

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