Rip Lance Aka Aussie123

[tugger]

My close friend Lance Collins passed away on Wednesday many of you knew him here and were guided by his fishing knowledge he would pass on selflessly. I am richer for his mateship and will never forget the times we hung out together fishing and camping.

He has suffered some tuff times this year with illness and I'm glad there were some happy times as well fishing together up at 1770 and offshore here in brissy. Please feel free to tell some yarns here about Lance and celebrate the life of a kind, sharing and gentle man.

[Old Scaley]

Very sad news indeed, Mark. Lance was a gem of a human being. Always helpful, extremely knowledgeable and exceptionally kind. He will be sorely missed.

[ellicat]

Thanks for letting the forum know, Mark.

Lance and I had our ups and downs, but I am glad to say we finished on the up. He was a always a decent human and a great contributor to the site. Many members of AFO who crossed paths with him will remember him very fondly.

I remember the first time we met at an AFO get together. I noticed he liked a chat and he had a great knowledge on the topics he spoke about. He was also passionate about those topics.

Rest in Piece Lance.

[Zim man]

such a great loss. Was a great character and always happy to share his knowledge. RIP

[Brodie_S]

Sad to see one of the regular forum user’s gone . RIP 

[samsteele115]

Such a passionate and knowledgeable man. Was a pleasure having met him and an invaluable contributor on the forum. 

[kmcrosby78]

That's very sad news Mark and makes me really wish I'd seen him again more recently than I have. I have fond memories of Wave Break Island camping/fishing trips with Lance (and a few drinkies in the arvo/evenings .... ) and he definitely will be missed on this forum - if Lance didn't know the answer about a fishing-related topic it wasn't worth knowing. Absolute legend - RIP mate.

[Angry51]

Sorry about your mate tugger.

I didn't know him.

RIP Lance.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

This is very sad news. Lance was a very knowledgeable fisherman, and while I unfortunately did not get to meet him, he was a top bloke as well! Condolences to his friends and family. I hope everyone handles it OK. 

I'm sure everyone will remember him as an awesome fella. Thank you for letting us know Mark.

Rest in Peace Lance.

Cheers Hamish

[Drop Bear]

Thanks for posting this Mark,

A great loss to so many of us.

One of my best fishing experiences was spending a few days on a small boat with him up at 1770.

He out fished everyone and taught me so much. He has helped me set up my boat and guided me in so many ways. Always ready for a laugh around the campfire and extremely generous with his time. 

The world is a better place for have having you in it mate, rest peacefully now.

I think the fish just let out a sigh of relief. 

[Nirvana]

I unfortunately never got to meet him either but have been reading his past posts with interest. Condolences to his friends and family. It sounds like he has made a postive impact on those around him and is an allround good bloke as well as gun fishermen. Rest In Peace mate. 

[straddiebrad]

yes mate top bloke not only to us lot but too my grandkids also,remeber the times at blakleys  he had spent alot of time with the kids telling them stories and making them feel so welcome the kids loved his company and stories was a top weekend .he had time for everyone a sad day indeed rip our freind.

[tugger]

Lance was a member of this forum for a long time and its where i met him, i have many stories but 1 of the funniest ones for me was when we got back from a brissy fishing trip. We had been out in my boat and i had my brand new outboard on the boat by then so during the morning i had been telling Lance how my wife and i had saved up over the years to get a new kitchen in the house. Then my old 2 stroke engine had died and we used the savings to buy a new 4stroke engine for the boat. 

 

So we got back from fishing and cleaned the catch then started to clean the boat when Lance said to my wife its time to clean the kitchen very tongue in cheek. Well  after laughing hard and trying to tell my wife how i told Lance about our savings going towards the outboard that would be his best 1 liner in my memories that i will never forget. 

 

Thanks for all the kind words, this forum was a place you would often see Lance visit and impart his knoledge if someone was seeking advice. Many fishos would have Lance as his deckie even though he owned his own small tinnie its the offshore he loved the most. I know ,many fisherman now who can chase marlin or big snapper etc with confidence and do well after having him onboard a few times. I will think of my old mate when i go offshore on my big trips, keep the stories coming I am sure he is reading them.

[tugger]

On 12/10/2020 at 7:53 AM, Drop Bear said:

Thanks for posting this Mark,

A great loss to so many of us.

One of my best fishing experiences was spending a few days on a small boat with him up at 1770.

He out fished everyone and taught me so much. He has helped me set up my boat and guided me in so many ways. Always ready for a laugh around the campfire and extremely generous with his time. 

The world is a better place for have having you in it mate, rest peacefully now.

I think the fish just let out a sigh of relief. 

That 1770 trip was awesome Lance took you guys out deep and found that big show of snapper aye Robbie ( hippo porn) lol.

[tugger]

On 11/10/2020 at 3:05 PM, kmcrosby78 said:

That's very sad news Mark and makes me really wish I'd seen him again more recently than I have. I have fond memories of Wave Break Island camping/fishing trips with Lance (and a few drinkies in the arvo/evenings .... ) and he definitely will be missed on this forum - if Lance didn't know the answer about a fishing-related topic it wasn't worth knowing. Absolute legend - RIP mate.

He loved wavebreak trips Kelvin it was where he wanted to go back to before he passed but never got that wish unfortunately.

[tugger]

28 minutes ago, straddiebrad said:

yes mate top bloke not only to us lot but too my grandkids also,remeber the times at blakleys  he had spent alot of time with the kids telling them stories and making them feel so welcome the kids loved his company and stories was a top weekend .he had time for everyone a sad day indeed rip our freind.

Blakeleys were great weekends camping over on stradie we had some of the biggest fires and Teds beach side bar was a hit with the keg set up. Brad  your grand kids sure are loving fishing every time i see them they are in to it.

[Drop Bear]

2 hours ago, tugger said:

That 1770 trip was awesome Lance took you guys out deep and found that big show of snapper aye Robbie ( hippo porn) lol.

haha yep.

Those snapper were thick out there. We bagged out in 2 drifts. Shame I couldn't get the mark haha. 

That was a great trip. We came home with so much fish! 

[tugger]

55 minutes ago, Drop Bear said:

haha yep.

Those snapper were thick out there. We bagged out in 2 drifts. Shame I couldn't get the mark haha. 

That was a great trip. We came home with so much fish! 

I was in stradiebrad's boat and you and Lance were in Julian's boat. We got good fish to it was an awesome trip.

[Drop Bear]

1 hour ago, tugger said:

I was in stradiebrad's boat and you and Lance were in Julian's boat. We got good fish to it was an awesome trip.

Lance caught some stonking spangleds and a very nice Cobia on that trip. 

Let me know if anyone wants some photos and I will email better res ones. 

[tugger]

Lance's Cobia was a cool story how it took bare hooks next to the Boat 

[GregOug]

Some great fish there!

[Drop Bear]

10 hours ago, tugger said:

Lance's Cobia was a cool story how it took bare hooks next to the Boat 

Yep it hit the bare trebles. haha the man was a fishing freak, a fish whisperer. 

[Do$tylz]

Oh s***! Oh man. What a loss and I'm sorry to hear. 

I never ended up attending any over the overnight beach camping sessions but have been to a few of the winter camp and other overnighters when Lance was in attendance. Definitely had a few laughs with him over a few beers and whiskys while decked out in my onesie and panda hat

His knowledge of fishing and the industry was immense and it's at a-whole-nother level when you start talking deep water stuff. 

Sincerest condolences to family and friends and it's a large loss to AFO. RIP Lance.

 

[Drop Bear]

It was a privilege to be there today and I am grateful I could say goodbye. That was the first time I have seen an open casket. 

There were heaps of people there and we had to spill outside. So many were in fishing shirts. I think he would have loved it. 

Many of us (including me) owe him a debt of gratitude for the fishing wisdom he imparted. I don't mind saying he out fished me. 

It was great to see so many AFO members there, all dressed in fishing shirts. 

Vale Lance. Collins. RIP brother. 

[jon]

Terrible news. Whilst I never got to know him well, the handful of times I had crossed paths with him whilst  launching my boat at Cleveland  he was Always keen to share his vast knowledge and help me with a game plan. A terrible loss as a bloke and also to this website and fishing in general. When I bought bulk prawns from him  at his house from his mate on the trawler one time I must have changed the order 3 or four times and he was so accommodating, easy going and up for yarn something I specifically remembered about him as I drove off. RIP Lance

Edited October 19, 2020 by jon

[Shannon collins]

I remember we I was 11ish he brought me my first over head combo n told me were to fishing until you can cast on point everytime with no birds nests. So he gets some beer n a bucket set it out a good distance. Got his seat n beer n told me $1 every time the sinker lands in the bucket. Well after about 5 casts I got my eye in was a nature racked up a quick 37 dollars n was fishing afternoon :D a ggreat uncle and I have many more time with him. I used to look forward to what ever time I got fishing n eating lollies with him miss him alot!

[Old Scaley]

Sorry for your loss @Shannon collins. As you can see, your uncle was well liked and respected by many people on this site. 

[Drop Bear]

5 hours ago, Shannon collins said:

I remember we I was 11ish he brought me my first over head combo n told me were to fishing until you can cast on point everytime with no birds nests. So he gets some beer n a bucket set it out a good distance. Got his seat n beer n told me $1 every time the sinker lands in the bucket. Well after about 5 casts I got my eye in was a nature racked up a quick 37 dollars n was fishing afternoon a ggreat uncle and I have many more time with him. I used to look forward to what ever time I got fishing n eating lollies with him miss him alot!

Great memories Shannon, thanks for sharing. He was so generous with his time and touched so many of us. 

[kmcrosby78]

Yep, he would have been one very cool uncle @Shannon collins - condolences to your family.