Fishing for an adventure

A few years ago Jeff Turner started thinking a lot about a man’s need to find adventure. This summer he and his son Taylor will try to complete the adventure of a lifetime as they set out to fly fish in all 50 states in just 50 days.

Turner, a Warrenton resident who works for a defense contractor in northern Virginia, read the book Wild at Heart by John Eldridge in 2002 and the seeds were planted, only to be fertilized by a friend named J.R. Davison who organized a Christian ministry known as the Band of Brothers. The ministry focused on men experiencing adventure together and when Davison died last year, it spurred Turner into action.

Turner decided that he and Taylor, 17, should go on the kind of trip most father-and-son duos only talk about, and from Taylor’s idea to go on a cross-country road trip grew the mission to not only travel to each state in the union, but to also fish at least four hours in every one.

“He’s only really got one summer left at home where time is not our enemy,” Jeff Turner said. “So we started talking about a great adventure and what we would do. We started the research on all 50 states and we tried to keep geography out of the equation so we weren’t just checking the box.”

Rather than pick bodies of water located near state lines that would allow them to fish in multiple states in a single day, the Turners identified trophy waters in each state, where they would have to opportunity to try to hook a variety of different fish.

They plan to travel across the lower 48 states in a Winnebago RV before traveling by airplane to Alaska and Hawaii for the final two legs of the trip. On four days they will fish in one state in the morning before driving to the next state during the day and fishing there into the evening. That will allow two days for travel to both Alaska and Hawaii and also give them a couple of days at the end of the trip to make up any state they may miss because of bad weather or emergency.

As the plans for the trip evolved, Jeff Turner created a Web site, fish5050.com, which offers details of the trip and will allow visitors to follow their progress when they begin the journey on June 13.

As more and more people found out about the idea, the Turners were able to find sponsors and guides that have made the trip possible. They’ve located guides in each state to help them arrive at their fishing destinations and in many cases the accommodations and guide services were offered at discount prices or even provided free. They’ve also secured 15 corporate sponsors, including ESPN, which will follow the trip on its outdoor sports Web site.

But there is still cost for the Turners. Jeff will spend about $25,000 and took out a home equity loan to finance the adventure, but this isn’t about money for Jeff and Taylor.

“It’s not a free trip for us by any stretch,” Jeff said. “You can’t put a price on this kind of memory with your son.”

Taylor said being able to take on the challenge of fishing all the states in 50 days is exciting, but the opportunity to do it with his father before he moves out of the family home was too much to pass up.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me and my dad to spend time together for 50 days,” Taylor said. “I always wanted to go on a long RV trip and he wanted to do a big fishing trip and so this is just two things we’ve always wanted to do. When we first starting talking about it I wasn’t sure we’d follow through, but my dad kept pushing and made it happen.”

The Turners realize they might not catch a fish at every location, and that’s OK. They will give it their best shot and try to stay at least four hours at every spot, but considering this is an adventure who knows if the plans might change just a little bit?

“It really isn’t about the fish,” Jeff said. “We’re focusing on relationships and seizing the moment and building a memory.”

Follow their trip on the Web
Check out fish5050.com for more information on the Turners and their goal of fishing in 50 states in 50 days and follow their daily updates with video, pictures and a journal once the trip begins on June 13.