Frazer Park: Snapper Point remains a tempting, fatal trap for rock fishing deaths

Tucked away in Munmorah State Recreation Area, on a clear and still day it would rival any stretch of sand in the Hunter in terms of beauty.

But those who have followed its history know that charm is also part of what makes it so dangerous.

Too many fishers have cast their last line in the area, and emergency services are too familiar with precisely how wild its waters can be.

Almost three years ago, Lake Macquarie City Council's beach lifeguard team leader Paul Stone explained why the area has been so dangerous for so long.

"There's two different things that go on in there at Frazer Park," he said in April 2019.

"One being the location is highly attractive to rock fishermen, it's a rock-fishing mecca. So we certainly see more than our fair share of rock-fishermen being washed in there.

"And the other thing that happens there is the big cave. It's not a long walk to walk around to the front of it, and a lot of people like to swim in there and have a look.

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"But the challenge is, once you're in there it's very difficult to climb back up on the rocks... and it's too far to swim back around to Frazer Park beach.

"Unless you're a fairly capable person, once you're in there you can't get out."

Signs warn of the site's dangers, which in the decade to January 2019 included 35 major emergency call-outs, major rescues or tasks its members had responded to in the past decade at Snapper Point according to Surf Lifesaving NSW. There were nine drownings during the same period.

Authorities have urged caution many times, and life jackets are mandatory for rock fishers in the area. Police on Sunday confirmed the man who died was wearing a life jacket, but that it came off in the way.

No matter how well the fish bite there, it is becoming tragically clear that all that has been done has failed to provide a panacea.

Despite recorded rescues, and many that go unrecorded by those lucky to be saved by a member of the public, those called in to search are certainly no strangers to the heartbreak of failing to find someone alive.

However the fisher whose body was recovered on Sunday found himself in the water, it is a certainty that his loved ones would have preferred that he be at their side today.

Frazer Park needs no more victims. It is time that its treacherous reputation served to stop the flow of tragedies unfolding there.

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