A rahui is in place after four people died when their fishing charter sank near Cape Reinga.

The vessel, Enchanter, ran into trouble in wild weather which hammered the top of the country on Sunday night.

It is believed a wave hit the 15m vessel, breaking the bridge of the boat.

A massive search effort has been taking place since early this morning.

Local iwi Ngāti Kuri has put a rāhui in place for the next seven days from Tohoraha / Mount Camel to Murimotu at North Cape and 12km out to sea.

Te Rūnanga Nui O Te Aupōuri have also put a rāhui in place. Kaumātua Winiata Brown Heta Conrad and Robert Kaaka this evening established a rāhui covering from Houhora to Cape Reinga, including Parengarenga Harbour. It will be in place initially for two weeks.

Celebrated for its fishing, the town of Mangonui was in shock on Monday following news one of its boats had not survived its northern journey.

"For that disaster to happen, something must have been a wee bit unexpected up there to happen like that," says Mangonui harbour wardern Steve Smith.

He has known Enchanter skipper Lance Goodhew for years.

"What I am hearing is that Lance and four others have been in hospital in Kaitaia. I have heard that there are three people whose bodies have been recovered and two are still missing at this stage."

Late on Monday afternoon, authorities announced they had recovered a fourth body.

On Thursday, Goodhew set off with one Northland crew member, Kobe O'Neill, and eight clients on a five-day trip to the Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands - a trip that takes about 19 hours.

Smith says it's a top fishing spot.

"The Enchanter along with a few other charter vessels took crews up to the Three King Islands, and generally it was a great jaunt out for people who want to go charter fishing, and Lance did that job extremely well."

A weather warning went out on Saturday morning, two days after the Enchanter had headed out.

On Sunday night, the trip took a tragic turn when a rogue wave is understood to have hit the boat.

Its emergency locator beacon was activated about 8pm and the crew were in distress for several hours.

Goodhew and crew member Kobe O'Neill both survived the ordeal.

They are understood to have had eight Auckland-based visitors on board - three other survivors were taken to Kaitaia Hospital and another four bodies have been recovered.

Mark Daniels, who runs a gallery directly across from the wharf at Mangonui, says the conditions on Sunday were terrible.

"I witnessed Sunday's very, very wild, rough, chaotic water conditions. And I was a bit surprised at the time that there were people even considering going out ... two charter boats tied up to the wharf. I don't think they did and I'm glad of that. However, subsequently I've read that this one boat was out there in that rubbish weather."

The boat sank near the North Cape on Te Aupōuri Peninsula.

Te Rūnanga Nui O Te Aupōuri chair Peter-Lucas Jones says local teams have been assisting with access to the area and providing knowledge for the search and rescue efforts.

"There's always a level of safety that needs to be considered on any sort of trip. And around the rohe moana of Te Aupōuri and the Murimotu area, and further afield, the seas can be very unpredictable and the climate can change quite quickly."

New Zealand Defence Force along with police, coastguard and local fishing vessels have also been involved in the search. A fourth body was recovered late on Monday afternoon.

Jones says everyone is hoping and praying for the person who is still missing, but they are preparing for the worst.

"Of course fishing trips are generally supposed to be fun and exciting events. But on this occasion, it has turned out to be very tragic."

Rescue Coordination Centre officer Nick Burt told Checkpoint there were multiple marine and aviation assets searching for the last missing person overnight.

He says the focussed the search east of North Cape, with the entire search area being about 200sq nautical miles.

He says they were searching until last light.

Nick says the search effort seen on Monday will be reviewed and the search will resume at first light.

-RNZ/Nita Blake-Persesn.