A trip to Cairns represents the Holy Grail of big-game fishing trips. Ask any mate on the water, and he’ll tell you that fishing the Great Barrier Reef during the black marlin season in Australia is the World Series, Super Bowl and Masters all rolled into one.

Anglers fish for five days on the Great Barrier Reef, never leaving the safety and comfort of our live-aboard mothership, which stays within a 20-minute run of our game boats as they follow the bite up and down the Great Barrier Reef. Instructor Peter B. Wright, a world-renowned angler, holds the world record for the most 1,000-plus-pound marlin caught  in history. Since 1968, Peter has fished every season in Cairns, and in September 2007, he was inducted into the Cairns Black Marlin Hall of Fame and the IGFA Hall of Fame.
This special session accommodates only 12 students, so act now to reserve your spot. It doesn’t get any better than this!

Join us in Carrillo Beach, Costa Rica and have your choice of two great classes! Each class offers the same itinerary and level of instruction, just pick your date!

From December through April, considered Carrillo’s prime fishing season, anglers find sunny skies and flat-calm seas. In 7 years we’ve never had a rough day in Costa Rica. Top anglers make the trip to Carrillo for the marlin bite and a good supply of blue, striped and black marlin keep them coming back. In Carrillo, you don’t have to run very far to find the fish, a typical day usually means a run between 12 and 20 miles. It’s this variety of species that makes Carrillo stand out among other hot spots along Costa Rica’s rich coastline.

Once the course ends, there’s is also plenty to explore in Costa Rica’s natural splendor. Non-fishing guests can enjoy river kayaking, horseback riding or soar through the forest canopy on a zip line tour.  An angler’s and naturalist’s paradise, Costa Rica awaits those who have a sense of adventure! Due to the popularity of this destination, both classes fill up fast, so reserve early!

Join Marlin U for its first-ever Fly-Fishing session. Held in Guanamar, Costa Rica, the same action-packed spot where we hold all of our Costa Rica sessions, this special class will have you casting the long wand under the two of the world’s best — Hal Chittum and Capt. George Sawley. Chittum has caught billfish on the fly all over the world and has even released three blue marlin in a single day while fly-fishing. Capt. George Sawley holds several billfish on fly world records and specializes in catching blue marlin on fly on his Spencer Boat, Stalker. Sawley has arguably caught more blue marlin on the fly than any other captain.

Both of these experts bring years of experience to this special session, and they will provide hands-on instruction to make sure that you come away with good lessons in every aspect of targeting billfish on the fly. From what flies to use to what knots to tie, no question will go unanswered.

This new class accommodates only 12 students!

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We’re going back to this Guatemalan fishing destination to take advantage of the area’s huge number of sailfish. With up to 20 shots a day at times, Guatemala is the perfect place to learn the intricacies of the bait-and-switch. If calm waters and multiple shots at marlin and sailfish excite you, the Pacific coast of Guatemala is your paradise.

Guatemala is no longer known for just being the world’s best place for sailfish because the marlin bite in Guatemala has been second to none in 2008. After a day on the water, Pacific Fins Resort & Marina provides you the ultimate refuge in which to rejuvenate yourself and share the day’s action with your classmates.

We couldn’t stay away from St. Thomas for long — the world’s most consistent blue marlin bite kept calling us back for more! Every summer, hordes of blue marlin stream past the famed North Drop off the east of St. Thomas on their annual spawning migrations. Anglers fishing the summer bite can expect three to five blue marlin bites a day during the peak, but anytime you catch at least one blue marlin, it’s a good day. Unlike our other destinations where you get shots at a multitude of species, this is a blue marlin fishery … period. There’s no sailfish to play around with; if you get a bite, it’s going to be blue dog.

We troll a combination of lures, teasers and dead baits in St. Thomas, the same style used by a lot of anglers throughout the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico, making it a good trip for those targeting blue marlin back at home.

We finally caved into the pleas of our alumni and added a Panama session in 2009. Our host resort, the Hacienda Del Mar on the Island of San Jose offers the utmost privacy and makes a gorgeous base camp for our anglers to get a taste of Panama’s legendary marlin fishery. We came here on the advice of Capt. Trevor Cockle, the captain of the world-famous Hooker, who’s been crushing the blue and black marlin here every summer during his breaks from Costa Rica.

The rugged coast of Panama, dotted with undersea reefs, mountains and small islands, provides a rich offshore environment that attracts and holds good numbers of all the pelagic predators. Giant tuna, dorado, blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin and sails inhabit these prolific waters, making it a playground for the offshore angler. Join us for this exploratory trip to some of Panama’s virgin waters.

This new class accommodates only 16 students, so book now!