Forget the cartoons. All little John Succarde wanted to do on Saturday mornings was watch Chad LaChance.
LaChance’s TV show, “Fishful Thinker,” became a staple for Colorado outdoor enthusiasts after it debuted in 2009. The educational fishing show endeared the Evergreen High School and CSU alum to anglers of all ages, including Succarde, who looked forward to watching it every weekend growing up.
“The amount of information he was able to put out throughout an episode was unmatched,” said Succarde, now a 29-year-old Pueblo resident and avid outdoorsman. “He was able to explain techniques, show you different ways to rig things, different methods. But most importantly, I enjoyed watching him because he was local. It was cool to see him fish the same lakes that I fished, but have different ideas on the same body of water.
“And the biggest thing he portrayed on TV was to be appreciative. It doesn’t matter how big the fish are, or how many you catch. It’s about being in the great outdoors, enjoying nature and making the best out of the time you’ve got.”
Now, LaChance is intent on making the best out of his time left with his family and friends.
The 54-year-old is battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which has metastasized throughout his abdomen. He announced his diagnosis last month and has been in hospice care at his home off Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins.
In LaChance’s final radio interview on Terry Wickstrom Outdoors on June 14 on 104.3 The Fan, LaChance said he believes he accomplished the goal he set out to achieve over nearly 400 episodes of “Fishful Thinker.”
“(My goal) was to motivate and inspire other people to go and catch fish,” LaChance said. “I put some TV shows on that are borderline embarrassing in terms of the fish that I caught. But the reality is that’s what everybody deals with.
“Sometimes you go fishing and you don’t catch them very well. And if you hide all that from your viewers, they lose touch.”
That never happened to LaChance, who became renowned for his prowess with jerkbait lures as he also ran a guide company in northern Colorado. In addition to focusing on local waters, he traveled across the country from Alaska to the Florida Keys to fish and record shows.
The TV series “Spanish Fly,” hosted by famous saltwater fisherman Jose Wejebe, inspired LaChance to pursue a career in fishing. He quit a job in the mortgage industry to pursue his “Fishful Thinker” venture full-time, first as a guide service and then as a show.
LaChance’s move into media started with humble beginnings as a call-in guest on Wickstrom’s radio show. He eventually filled in for Wickstrom’s TV show twice, and one of those appearances became the pilot for the “Fishful Thinker” series, according to Wickstrom.
In the decades since, LaChance became a Colorado fishing icon for his on-screen expertise and relatability. Many fans, such as Succarde, never met him in person, but felt like they did.
“There were times we’d be in line at the launch ramp, and guys would get out of their trucks and yell at Chad like they were his cousin or his brother,” said Tim Farnsworth, LaChance’s friend and longtime cameraman. “One time at Spinney Mountain Reservoir, at like 4:30 in the morning when it was still pitch black, a guy pulls up behind us and yells, ‘Chadddd!’
“People were proud to have him there at their local water.”
A native of Jupiter, Fla., LaChance moved to Evergreen as a child. That’s when he met his friend Eric Guthrie. The two budding anglers cut their teeth fishing Little Cub Creek and Upper Bear Creek. Guthrie said LaChance demonstrated elite casting accuracy from a young age, long before “Fishful Thinker.”
“We went to Bonny Reservoir once (in our early 20s), and I was in one boat with a buddy, and he was in another boat,” Guthrie recalled. “We were casting at each other, seeing how close we could get. I told my buddy, ‘Look, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’
“Chad casted his perfect and caught my buddy in the top of the thigh from a long, long ways away. He’s won a lot of casting and accuracy competitions.”
LaChance’s love of fishing was part of an intimate connection to nature — one amplified by the wildlife right outside his Fort Collins home.
“He would walk up to giant bucks in his yard and scratch their heads, or does would come up to him in the yard and rest their head on his shoulder,” longtime friend and “Fishful Thinker” guide Dan Swanson said with a laugh. “His connection to wildlife, whether it’s deer or fish, and his understanding of the nature of animals is incredible.”
An avid hunter and cook, LaChance came up with recipes for fish and game that he often shared on his show. He served on the Larimer County Parks Advisory Board, working to protect the lakes he fished. He’s also been a mentor to young fishers throughout the state.
In what LaChance called his “highest accomplishment in angling,” he coached the duo of Ryan Wood and Turner Mason to a pair of state championships through Denver Junior Bass Masters as well as the 2016 Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship in Tennessee.
Wood and Mason finished last at the national championship in 2015 before re-qualifying and getting redemption the next year when the Legacy High School duo topped a field of 340 anglers. LaChance’s game plan to use jerkbait lures in ’16 proved to be key in the victory.
Mason said he will “never forget Chad for giving me that passion to fish.” Wood, whom LaChance mentored since he was 10 years old, said LaChance’s influence on him went far beyond the water.
“Looking back on it now, I realize how much more he taught us than just fishing,” Wood said. “He taught us how to navigate through life. And when we went to college, he sought out other kids to mentor as well.”
All of those achievements are why LaChance told Wickstrom he is at peace with his fate.
“I’m okay with (my diagnosis), I’m comfortable, and the reason I’m comfortable is I’ve been honest with myself my whole life,” LaChance said last month. “I’ve followed my heart all the time, and that’s my advice. Follow your folly, follow your passion, because if you do that, the rest will work itself out.
“And if you don’t, and then you get the kind of news like I got, I think it’s gonna be rough. And one thing I have at this point is the perfect clarity that comes with hindsight. … Everyone told me the fishing show wouldn’t work. It worked fine. I went and did all of the other crazy things that I wanted to do, had all the crazy adventures … I just want to say thank you to everybody for following along.”
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