RESCUERS say a life jacket has saved a rock fisherman from drowning after a rogue wave washed him into dangerous surf between Avoca and Copacabana beaches on Sunday morning.
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The 58-year-old fisherman was swept into the sea about 8am, spending about half-an-hour bobbing around off a spot known as Winnie Bay before two volunteers from Avoca Surf Life Saving Club pulled him into an inflatable rescue boat.
Club president Garry Clarke said the man was about 500 metres out to sea when they got to him.
“He had a life jacket on and that saved his life,” Mr Clarke said.
Mr Clarke and fellow volunteer Dan Ryan got the call shortly after the Sunday patrol began and headed out to a rocky outcrop that has claimed the lives of numerous fishermen over the years.
“We saw his friends on the rocks motioning to go further out to sea,” Mr Clarke said.
“Dan spotted him quite quickly actually. “His friends had thrown a second life jacket out to him and he was still holding his fishing rod.”
The man was in good spirits, according to his rescuers, but was taken to hospital as a precaution after swallowing an amount of water.
“He indicated to us that it was a rogue wave that had washed him off the rocks while he was fishing,” Mr Clarke said.
“The message needs to be out there that any rock fishing can be dangerous and if the conditions are bad be careful or avoid fishing altogether.”
Mr Clarke said there was a large southerly swell at Avoca on Saturday morning, creating dangerous conditions along the rock shelf that is a popular spot among plucky fishermen.
Meanwhile, a man has died and four others have been rescued after being swept off rocks while fishing at Tathra on the state's far south coast on Saturday.
The group were fishing on a rock platform to the south of Tathra Headland when they were washed off the rocks by a rogue wave shortly before 1pm.
Local police officers, assisted by a Westpac Rescue Helicopter and NSW surf lifesavers, searched the area surrounding the popular fishing spot. A NSW Surf Lifesaving statement said two of the men who were dragged out to sea by the waves were able to scramble back onto the rocks, with the remaining three pulled out of the water by inflatable rescue boats.
As a result of being immersed in the water, two of these men required CPR.
One of the men responded favourably to the treatment by lifesavers, while the other, believed to be in his 50s, died at the scene.
Neither the deceased man or the other man requiring CPR were wearing a lifejacket at the time they were washed into the water.
Conditions at the time of the incident are understood to be "choppy" with strong winds and wave sets of between 2-3 metes reported by local lifesavers.
On Friday, surf lifesavers and the Bureau of Meteorology had warned rock fishers, in particular, to be "aware of deceptive conditions especially when getting onto and off exposed platforms".
Rock fishing is widely recognised as one of the most dangerous sports in Australia, with an average of eight people losing their lives to the sport every year in NSW alone.
Saturday's incident adds to the spate of drowning deaths that have plagued the state's waterways over the summer holiday period.
About twenty people have drowned since Christmas in NSW.
Violent swells and strong winds are expected to lash the NSW coast for the remainder of the weekend.
