Man believed to have died of heart attack at Whatuwhiwhi

Police and an ambulance were called about 3.10pm after the man was pulled onto the beach opposite the Whatuwhiwhi Top 10 Holiday Park. Photo / Google

A man who died while fishing in the Far North is thought to have died of a heart attack.

The 61-year-old man was pulled from the water at Whatuwhiwhi, on the Karikari Peninsula about 40km northeast of Kaitaia, about 3.10pm on Sunday.

A police spokesman said the man had been fishing off the northern end of Tokerau Beach, opposite Whatuwhiwhi Top 10 Holiday Park, when a fish pulled his rod and holder into the water.

He was thought to have suffered a heart attack as he went in to the water to retrieve his rod.

Local residents - including a man fishing off nearby rocks and another fisherman who returning to the beach by boat and saw the incident unfolding - rushed to the man's aid and tried in vain to resuscitate him.

St John Ambulance and Mangonui police also attended.

It is understood the man had only recently moved to the Karikari Peninsula from Auckland. His name has not yet been released.

The coroner would decide whether to conduct a post-mortem examination to confirm the cause of death.

Police and an ambulance were called about 3.10pm after the man was pulled onto the beach opposite the Whatuwhiwhi Top 10 Holiday Park, Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said.

Members of the public performed CPR on the man, he said, but he was pronounced dead when an ambulance arrived.

Police were still trying to identify the man, Metcalfe said.