A fellow whitebaiter watched a wave wash into Paul Thomas Finlay's waders moments before the 78-year-old was sucked into a river current and drowned.
Finlay, a retired civil engineer, died at Seven Mile Creek in Rapahoe on September 18, 2024.
Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale has now released findings into the death, ruling that Finlay was swept into the river by surging waves and drowned because his waterlogged chest waders and heavy layers of clothing made self-rescue impossible.
Shane Williams was whitebaiting nearby around 10am during a 3.5-metre king tide. He saw Finlay standing on the stones of the river bed wearing waders with attached gumboots.
Williams witnessed a wave surge up and go down the front of Finlay's waders. Finlay took off his jacket but kept fishing.
