A SYDNEY rock fisherman who jumped into rough seas to save his wife has died and his mate is feared drowned.
The two men, 24 and 26, were part of a group of six that travelled to the NSW Central Coast from Sydney on Friday to go rock fishing.
The friends, some of whom are students, were on a notoriously dangerous rocky ledge at Wybung Head, near Lake Macquarie, when a woman was swept into the ocean by a wave.
The woman's husband and a friend entered the water to rescue her but disappeared. The woman survived after being washed back onto the rocks.
A major search operation was sparked about 6:30pm on Friday when the men failed to resurface.
Police say no one in the group was wearing a life jacket.
A helicopter winched the woman from the rock ledge while paramedics and police rescued three other people.
The emotional woman and her supportive friends returned to Wybung on Saturday as the Westpac Life Saver Helicopter, police and surf life savers searched for her missing husband and friend.
The husband's body was pulled from the ocean at 9am.
"The wife is absolutely devastated as you can imagine," Tuggerah Lakes police acting Inspector John Dooley told AAP.
The search has been called off but will resume at 8am on Sunday.
Local fishermen say the stretch of coast is treacherous and catches many people off guard.
"At that actual location, the people who go rock fishing aren't prepared for the danger of the sport," Peter Trenear, of Pelicans Wharf Fishing Tackle, told AAP.
"For the inexperienced, it can be life threatening."
Mr Trenear said he was washed off rocks in the same area about six years ago and had to be plucked from the ocean by a rescue helicopter.
"It was so easy, the water caught me by surprise," he said.
Insp Dooley said police had carried out several rescues and body recoveries at the spot over the years.
He warned people planning to rock fish to wear life jackets and check ocean conditions.
"You must be appropriately equipped to go down on these rock ledges," he said.
