Where it all began

As a tribute to all involved in the Bush ‘n Beach Fishing magazine over the years, I have put together a summary of highlights.

Obviously, some of this was before I was formally inducted into BNB, so the following is to the best of my knowledge.

 

Initially, there were two separate publications – Bush ‘n Beach Offroad, which started in June 1989, and Boat and Tackle, which started a few months later in November 1989.

Both monthly titles were produced by Redel Publication, with Greig Roberts as the editor.

At the time my father, the late Ron Collins, was a writer for both publications.

 

There was a slight change in April 1990, with the papers being produced as a combination publication and both titles on the masthead.

I believe the combination of the titles was to reduce the cost of printing and postage – ironic really.

Interestingly, the cost of the publication before the amalgamation was $1 each and the new combined edition was $1.50, pre-GST days.

 

Sadly, Greig passed away suddenly.

My understanding was that Greig had not long before purchased a large printer/photocopier, back when these were the size of a car and essentially the same price.

A deal was made where Collins Speciality Media took over the repayments of the photocopier in lieu of the two titles on the masthead.

 

This meant the August 1990 issue was the first for Collins Speciality Media.

While not a formal employee at this stage, as for any family business, you were required to help out whenever required, which mainly inc-luded mailouts and attending boat shows.

I offically made the cover of the publication in January 1991, though I had been in the background of several covers before then.

 

As a typical 16-year-old, I wasn’t that keen to have my photograph taken… well not for the one hundredth time holding the same sand crabs in a host of different positions.

Anyone who knew my father would understand what I am talking about.

But that was him – he wanted to get the best photo and produce the best publication possible.

 

Since this was well before mobile phones, more than a few shots were needed because you wouldn’t know exactly how they’d turn out, not until you received them back from the film processing shop – how things have changed!

As the publication evolved, it took on a new look again with the January 1994 edition, now called Bush ‘n Beach Fishing.

Fittingly, a good friend of my dad’s – and now a good friend of mine – Bill Corten adorned the cover holding a quality offshore snapper.

 

With the change in title came a slight price rise to $2.

As I was looking back through the master copies in search of this data, it was interesting to see who and what were on the covers – hopefully we can digitalise all the old editions so they can be read again.

From 1994 through to 2000 there weren’t a lot of major changes, aside from an increase in page numbers and readers.

As the publication grew in popularity, a decision was made to go from a full newsprint newspaper to a gloss-cover magazine.

This change was planned to coincide with the 2000 Brisbane Boat Show, which my father was very heavily involved with.

 

Hence the September 2000 magazine was released with a gloss cover and with none other than whiting guru Wayne ‘Youngy’ Young holding a beach-caught tarwhine and bream.

The cover price for the glossy edition was $2.50 including GST.

Unfortunately, you never know what hand you are going to be dealt and in late 2000, both my father and I were diagnosed with cancer.

There’s no sugar coating this – it was a very tough time for our family.

Sadly, Dad’s was terminal, but he didn’t let people know because he had a very strong desire to prove the doctors wrong.

Those who knew him would attest to how stubborn he could be, yet he had fishing and boating at the forefront and was a passionate advocate for the recreational fishing industry.

Around this time, I came onboard as a full-time employee to learn the ropes and impart some of my recently acquired knowledge from my BA in business marketing.

I didn’t have a great deal of time working with my father but one thing was for sure, we were both passionate about the industry.

 

After Dad sadly passed in June 2003, just prior to his fifty-seventh birthday, I was left at the helm to forge my own path.

The amount of support at that time was incredible.

The team managed to produce the July 2003 edition before he went, with my father in hospital still wanting to proof the pages to the best of his abilities.

From then, it was then my time to build on the solid foundations of the business.

The value of the recreational fishing industry became even more evident over the years and the whole industry grew at a rapid rate.

Being primarily Queensland and northern NSW based, we were blessed with awesome year-round fishing and a host of fish species to catch and places to visit.

These were the glory days of the magazine and people were elated to appear on the cover.

Then everything went pear-shaped with the arrival of COVID-19 in early 2020.

No one could be sure as to what was going to happen, or whether the world was going to end.

To support our advertisers, we did not charge them for the May and June editions of 2020 and the mag was produced only digitally, which saw it evolve yet again.

The July 2020 edition was the first of the A4-sized publications, which was received with mixed opinions – some loved it, while others preferred the original A3/tabloid format.

This change in format was done for several reasons, including to reduce printing and postage costs, plus it was the format of the digital version of the magazine.

The change also saw the addition of gloss pages, with the aim of making it more of a coffee table or waiting room mag.

Though I do know firsthand, a large portion made their way to the dunny.

From there, the rest is history… until this the last issue.

Thank you everyone for the support over the years – it has been very much appreciated.