Emergency services were alerted about 10.40am on Saturday, when a fibreglass boat capsized in rough conditions as two brothers-in-law on a 60th birthday fishing trip approached the Catlins River sandbar, near New Haven.
One man died and another was rescued and flown to Dunedin Hospital where he was in a moderate condition.
The man who died was Toko Mouth resident Gareth Pearson, 55.
An Owaka man, who declined to be named, helped in the rescue effort and said the pair had a dog on board who was also declared missing.
However, the dog was later found to have swam out of the water, and was sitting and waiting alongside his master on the beach.
Amanda Fuller, a close friend of Mr Pearson, said he was a hard-working man who took pride in everything he did and was an experienced boatsman.
He had looked after many people and would "give the shirt off his back to anyone in need," she said.
"He touched so many people in such special ways that only he could do."
Mr Pearson worked as a loader driver in Milton and previously worked at Pan Pac Forest Products.
The grandson of a former Balclutha mayor, he was born in Australia, grew up in Lawrence, and had lived in Toko Mouth for about five years.
In a post on social media, Jenny Lohrman — who said she was Mr Pearson’s wife of 17 years — described him as "a big personality that will be missed by many".
He was a father of two and had lived with her in the town of Cardwell, Australia, for many happy years, and had died in his "beloved Catlins Coast," she said.
One of his sons, Warwick Pearson, told 1News being out on the sea was his dad’s "place".
"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."
Surat Bay Lodge co-owner Ester Johnson lives in New Haven and had a view of the bar from her living room window.
"I saw them this morning when I opened the curtains and I thought to myself, ‘what the hell are they doing?"’
Ms Johnson said this incident was the third time in recent memory a boat had rolled while crossing the bar.
She said she recognised the pair as soon as she saw a big dog sitting on the bow of the boat.
"The dog is always sitting on the bow when they go fishing — I knew straight away who was out there."
She said about half an hour later she heard fire engines, alarms and saw the rescuers turn up.
She grabbed her binoculars and hoped it was not the two men she had seen that morning.
"When they towed the boat, I went up to the crib where they were having a birthday party and asked how [the two men] were.
"They said one was OK, but the other was missing."
The dog and the boat both belonged to Mr Pearson, she said.
A gazebo for a birthday party had been erected in the yard of the New Haven property, and was going to serve as a meeting spot for the surviving man’s 60th birthday celebrations when the pair returned from fishing.
The atmosphere of New Haven, Pounawea and Owaka was sombre following the news, with residents quiet, unsmiling and mulling over the morning events.
"It was a birthday fishing trip gone wrong and it’s been a tough day," one local under the gazebo said.
Locals aided in the boat’s recovery and brought it to the Owaka police station.
Police, Fenz volunteers and a rescue helicopter helped with the search for the men.
Police confirmed a body had been found on rocks nearby by the Owaka Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The incident is the second involving a boat crossing a river bar recently.
Earlier this month, three people died and two were rescued after the recreational boat they were in capsized on the Riverton bar, about 100m off shore.
