Living the fisherman’s dream

If you were a fishing enthusiast and you were told that you could fish all 50 states when you retire what would you say? A fisherman’s dream right? Queen City resident Paul Hale has done just this. What’s better than that? The fact that he has taken the time to share with photos from his “Fishing America” tour that took him fishing in all 50 states & Washington DC after retiring from logging December 31, 2016. His hard work and subsequent retirement gave him the opportunity or the travels in which he is very thankful for.

Hale explains that it “was not tournament fishing, just my personal, national pursuit of the best-tasting fish in America while targeting a wide variety of species from both fresh and saltwater and making new friends and taking in the beauty of our country traveling it from border to border and coast to coast. Two plane trips, one plane-cruise ship-bus combo trip, and 24 road trips in my 2013 Chevy Silverado made this possible from May 2017 through July 2019.”

“I loved every trip that I took especially the road trips in which some had friends & family join me as I toured our beautiful country. I never imagined so many different kinds of good-tasting fish that this nation has to offer,” recalls Hale.

His series will be published in the order he fished them while including “some talking points of interest on each one including some of the 61 professional guides that took me on 89 different guided trips, deckhands, some of the remarkable catches, cooking and eating them, sights, etc... Most all of the trips were unique to themselves, not only because of being in a different location each time, but having different species targets and getting 95 different kinds, also different techniques and methods of fishing that included ice fishing in nine states.” says Hale.

Editor’s note: See page 3 for Hale’s first article.