The Turners, Taylor and Jeff, will cover 15,000 miles by land, 6,000 miles by air and 500 miles by water.
Posted on 06/28/2009 7:35:47 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Every angler dreams of adventurous fishing opportunities. Some anglers are content to make the rounds within their own state to get their fix of fishing fever while others travel to other states. So how much fun would it be to try to fish all 50 states in the same number of days? That's exactly what Jeff Turner and his 17-year-old son, Taylor, are in the process of doing right now.
"Ever since I was a small boy I've dreamed of adventure," said the elder Turner. "I'm just an average father looking at one summer left with my son with college on the horizon and we look at this as one last chance at a truly epic adventure together."
Turner grew up in Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University. He now lives with his family in Virginia but still has plenty of Kansas ties. His father and mother, Jim and Joanie, recently moved from Topeka to a home near Fall River. His brother, Chris, lives in Lawrence and works in Topeka.
"We're telling our story to encourage other fathers and sons to seek ways to rebuild their relationship — with each other — and with the Lord," Turner said. "We're working with charities like men's fellowships, family focused organizations and anyone who has a heart to reach the fractured relationships between fathers and sons. Several organizations are planning on having their members sponsor the adventure by contributing a dime or quarter for every fish we catch to a worthy cause, but we will not profit from any aspect of this project."
Turner admits the inspiration for such an endeavor has come in many forms. A book by John Eldredge, "Wild at Heart," proved to be the first influence after he read it in 2002 and he longed for adventure. Turner's sense of adventure was quickly tugged back to reality with the pace of everyday life. But in June 2008 a friend of his, J.R. Davison of Grace Ministries, died suddenly of a heart attack. Turner admits he was touched by his friend's legacy and decided to venture out.
"His legacy was built on the foundation that we all need relationships, with our children, our parents and most importantly, our heavenly Father," Turner said. "In some ways our adventure is to honor J.R. in some small way by carrying on his legacy in reaching the souls of men and families across the country through adventure."
Turner and his son started working on their quest to fish 50 states in 50 days in July 2008. They researched trophy fishing destinations and made their selections in each state based on a number of factors including information about local guides, water conditions and fishing reports and photos from Web sites. Once all 50 destinations were located, they plotted a course.
"Our journey will span 15,000 miles by land, 6,000 miles by air (Alaska and Hawaii) and cover 500 miles by water," Turner said.
Their journey began on June 13, the day after Taylor got out of school, when they took off in their Winnebago View RV. On board they had things like fishing equipment, a collapsible/inflatable SeaEagle drift boat, laptop computers, backup hard drives, wireless broadband connectivity devices, an in-car navigation system, multiple cell phones with different cellular carriers and multiple digital cameras, digital video camera and a voice recorder. And on the back they had "Plan B."
"We took on a side project and retrofitted a mountain bike with an 80cc engine," Turner said of a backup plan in case their RV broke down in a remote location out of cell phone coverage. "That would give us something compact and lightweight and it can go 100 miles on a gallon of gas and we named it 'The Plan B.'"
The logistics of such an undertaking were enormous. One of the most tedious was purchasing a fishing license for each state. Fortunately, the task was made easier with the Internet since most states have online licenses available.
Their journey began in Pennsylvania and will continue in a clockwise fashion around the country. To date, they've traveled to West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado.
They've caught some nice fish in most locations with the occasional tough fishing day. However, the logistics seem to be working out fairly well with only one major snafu so far. En route to South Carolina, they ended up on a dead end dirt road next to a soybean field while following their GPS directions to their campground. Although they eventually found their campground, matters were made worse the next morning when they couldn't contact their guide and he never showed up.
Unable to find a bait shop that was open, they raided their refrigerator and tried their best to catch catfish on chunks of grilled chicken, mozzarella sticks and Nestle Toll House cookie dough. They unloaded their boat and set sail......
The Turners, Taylor and Jeff, will cover 15,000 miles by land, 6,000 miles by air and 500 miles by water.
I like it. It would be a bit harder to pull off hunting in all 50 states in 50 days, but it could be done. The hardest would be the Northeast, but the collection of digital photos would be worth it.
I think I could pull it off quite a bit cheaper than these folks are doing it.
Great job Dad, it is a trip your son will always remember.
I’m sure somebody’s already posted it, but
When will they get to the other 7?
(sorry)
Honestly, that’s one heck of an achievement.
Out of state licenses would run the bill up pretty fast.
<The hardest would be the Northeast,
The states there are smaller and closer together; why would they be the hardest to do? Restrictive fishing licenses?
“The states there are smaller and closer together; why would they be the hardest to do? Restrictive fishing licenses?”
You haven't tried the waters of the Eastern High Sierra of California yet have you?
Oops. Speed reading machine is on the fritz.
Yes, but B0 said he was going to take his daughter and fish 57 States in 57 days!!!!
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