Dave Coulson's retiring as chief editor at Fish Explorer

Northern Colorado is home to legendary anglers – folks like Terry Wickstrom, Chad LaChance, Dan Barker, experts in just about every aspect of our sport.  But as far as someone willing to test just about every body of water in northern Colorado, and share what he'd learned, it’s pretty hard to find a match for Dave Coulson, recently retired and about to hit the road with his wife Sue as full-time RVer. 

Dave was one of the earliest editors of http://fishexplorer.com, and on that website and in Fort Collins Coloradoan columns he's shared useful information about nearly every warm body of water in northern Colorado that might hold a fish. 

The first I recall seeing his byline was in an amazingly candid 2008 report on Fish Explorer, Boyd Lake from a Fly Fisher’s Perspective.” Darned if he hadn’t flippered his way all around that jet ski-infested, 1,700- acre reservoir in a float tube.  After flailing away with that three-fly, fly rod rig of his, darned if he didn’t tell the rest of us what he’d learned about 14 best spots to fish, and recommended ways to fish them.   I still refer to that article from time to time, reminding myself that some other anglers sure are more forthcoming than me, and maybe even more obsessive.

 

The first time I actually met Dave was in spring about 2010 at the Marina Inlet of Boyd Lake .  He’d spotted my belly boat in the back of the Silverado, and told me to fish right in the middle of the inlet, where water flowing in from Horsetooth Reservoir was attracting gangs of marauding white bass.  He was spot on – I anchored that boat smack in the middle of the current, just beyond casting range of some frustrated shore anglers – and sadistically amused myself at their expense. 

The point is, I may not be as generous as Dave in telling you where and how to go fishing around here (hey, the man’s a saint), but I do promise to occasionally share what I’ve learned about life.  And in this instance, I’m telling you that the fishing life around here is going to be a little duller without Dave in the mix.  I still haven't followed his advice and gone after carp on a fly rod.  

He was never a member of the Loveland Fishing Club, which is our loss, but he was a member of Rocky Mountain Fly Casters, the Fort Collins chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Centennial Bass Club, and sat on the Larimer County Parks Advisory Board.