Fishing is one of those bonding activities enjoyed between fathers and sons. With less than a week to go, Jeff Turner and his 17-year-old son, have taken this fishing-bonding thing to the next level.

Since June 13, the father-son angling duo has been crossing the U.S. in a Winnebago View RV to fish for 50 trophy fish in 50 states in 50 days. Over the course of 50 days, the duo will travel 15,000 miles by land, 6,000 miles by air and over 500 miles by water (for fishing). The air miles are the journeys to Hawaii and Alaska. They’ve allocated 44 days to fish the lower 48 states – four days were doubleheaders - and will fly to Alaska near the end of the July allowing an extra day to then fly to Hawaii.

The trip has been a year in the planning with first determining which trophy fish to catch in each state based on the time of year and second, figuring out the travel route. The trip is being documented on the Web site Fish5050.com and includes daily journal entries, video, and for those voyeuristic types, the route can be tracked in real-time with Live View GPS. We realize a bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work but there’s a reason it isn’t called “catching.” There have been days, including the kick-off day in Pennsylvania, where the anglers have been shut out.

Deeper than “because”, the Turners are making this journey in hopes of inspiring others to find their own dreams of adventure, desire to connect, build a lasting memory and to leave a legacy. Fans and followers of the fishing team can make a charitable pledge of support ranging from 5 cents per fish caught to $1 per fish caught to either Grace Ministries, National Fatherhood Initiative or Trout Unlimited.

The Turners appear to be on track with completing on schedule. We wonder if they’ll need a vacation when it’s all over.