UPDATED 1PM: Police have named the person who went missing at Kauri Point Wharf yesterday as Auckland man Peato Samele Ilalio.

The Police Dive Squad is at Kauri Point today, still trying to locate Peato, who is presumed to have drowned.

Police and the Waihi Beach Coastguard search for missing man Peato Samele Ilalio at Kauri Point Wharf today. Photos: Bruce Barnard.

Katikati police say the 40-year-old Samoan man jumped off the wharf about 3pm to try and retrieve his fishing rod, after he thought he had hooked a stingray on his line.

'He has then got towed so far out and he appears to have run out of puff and drowned,” says senior constable Lindsay Freeman.

The man disappeared about 200metres from the wharf, after being caught in the outgoing tide.

The man's wife, who was also fishing, raised the alarm. Searches began first by local residents in small boats, and later by responding Police, Waihi Beach Coastguard, and the Trustpower TECT rescue helicopter. All search efforts failed to find the man, who is a visitor to the area.

The search was called off overnight and resumed this morning.

The dive squad was in Tauranga yesterday searching for the dive gear of 42-year-old Tauranga lawyer Blair Kiddie, who died while diving with friends at Motiti Island on New Year's Day.

The Kauri Point Wharf is a popular spot for locals and visitors as it provides easy access for land-based fishing in a deep water channel. Fishers often catch snapper and king fish from the wharf and at this time of year, a number of stingrays are also in the area.

There is no boat ramp at Kauri Point and locals living in the village usually use tractors to launch boats.

During yesterday's search several people offered to assist, including those already on the water and others who approached police asking if further craft were needed.

Volunteer harbour warden Noel Haszard of Tanners Point also joined the search on a Tauranga Harbour Master jet ski, as he was able to access shallower areas of the harbour at low tide than the Coastguard's larger vessel could.

By about 6pm the search was stood down and coastguard vessels returned to base.