Search fails to locate fishermen missing at Port Waikato

The families of two fishermen missing at Port Waikato endured a third anxious night waiting for any news of their loved ones.

A 67-year-old Tuakau man and a 57-year-old friend from Pahiatua in Manawatu were reported missing by one of the men's concerned partners after failing to return from a fishing trip on Easter Monday.

Search teams have scoured the area for more than two days.

The men's capsized boat was found near the mouth of the Waikato River on Tuesday morning, but the 5.7m runabout was deeply embedded in sand and unable to be turned over or towed back to land.

Yesterday search teams managed to confirm that the two mates were not inside.

The police Eagle helicopter was used in the search, and also scoured the Manukau Bar area yesterday for a 74-year-old man who has been missing for a week.

He was one of two men in a 5.4m boat that overturned while crossing the bar via the south channel about 5pm last Thursday.

Friends on a nearby boat managed to pull one man from the water unhurt, but the elderly man did not surface. There was no sign of him yesterday, police said.

Meanwhile, a kayaker missing on Lake Coleridge in Canterbury since Saturday has also not yet been found. The man was spotted by a member of the public struggling in the water after falling out of his craft.

A search of the shore and surrounding area yesterday found nothing. The search will continue today.