Son's tribute to 'loving' dad who died during Jack's Bay fishing trip

The family of a South Otago man, who died during a fishing trip on Saturday morning, said he was "a really loving guy" who "worked hard and played hard".

Gareth Pearson, 55, was in Jack's Bay with his brother-in-law, who was celebrating his 60th birthday, when their 12-foot fibreglass boat capsized on the bar.

"He'd done a u-turn, must have thought that he'd had enough time, and he must have tried to boost around," his son, Warwick, told 1News.

"The boat didn't have enough power in it to propel him around."

Pearson's body was found on a nearby beach, while his brother-in-law and a family dog managed to swim to nearby rocks before they were rescued.

Emergency services were notified around 10.40am.

Police said a helicopter assisted with an aerial search, while Coastguard Bluff and Coastguard Dunedin volunteers and rescue vessels assisted in searching the water.

They'd been fishing in Jack's Bay to "get a feed for everyone" as part of the birthday celebrations.

Pearson's son told 1News his dad was a very experienced boatie.

"The sea was his place. like the ocean, being on the water was him", he said.

"I expected he'd be one of those old buggers who'd live past a hundred or something, you know, didn't think he'd ever leave. sort of thought he'd always be around."

"It's been a really, really stark winter for us," said Jonny Bannister from Coastguard's national operations team.

"Over the last two months alone, we've had eight fatalities, which is 7% more than average"

Two weeks ago, three people died in an accident crossing the Riverton bar in Southland.

"Crossing a bar is one of the most dangerous activities you can do in a vessel," said Bannister.

"It doesn't matter how experienced you are, an accident, slight error of judgement, you can quickly find yourself in the water."

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