If you haven't already seen it, you should check out the article.  And while you're thinking about it, get yourself a Marlin Magazine subscription!!

We're not kidding!  The highly respected Marlin University has donated a trip to RLA, and it could be yours!  Details regarding how you can get your hands on this coveted prize are forthcoming.  For now, though, you can read up on the fishing adventure of a lifetime!

www.MarlinUniversity.com

If calm waters and multiple shots at marlin and sailfish every day excite you, then the Pacific coast of Guatemala is your paradise. With up to 20 shots a day at times, Guatemala makes the perfect trip to learn the intricacies of the bait-and-switch. Our game boats are provided by the Casa Vieja Lodge.

At Marlin U, you fish side-by-side with the pros in a course designed to help you to instinctively know what to do once you have hooked the fish. You’ll learn from some of the most proficient and well-known billfish captains in the world (Capt. Ron Hamlin in Guatemala), including our instructors, Peter B. Wright and Dave Ferrell, Editors of Marlin Magazine. As a Captain, Peter B. Wright has fished waters all over the work, guiding numerous anglers to world records. In the process, he’s caught more ‘granders’ than anyone in history.

This class is a ‘hands-on’, personalized, side-by-side instruction in actual blue-water conditions. The secret of Marlin University’s curriculum is that we teach all of the required skills right on the boat. We keep the classes small to ensure you receive plenty of personalized instruction. You get first- class instruction on wiring billfish, live and dead bait rigging, lure setups, how to use circle hooks, how to fight fish standing up or how to use the chair to do battle. As an angler, you’ll perfect your fighting skills to eliminate common mistakes. We offer additional education at our nightly seminars.

After a day on the water, the Casa Vieja Lodge provides you with the ultimate refuge in which to rejuvenate yourself and share the day’s action with your mates. To learn more about the Casa Vieja Lodge, go to www.casaviejalodge.com

Cost includes hotel accommodations for 5 nights, 4 full days fishing with ‘hands on’ instruction, night seminars, all meals and airport transfers.

Jose Wejebe, host of ESPN's hit show Spanish Fly, recently joined us on our Adventure Trip to the Dominican Republic.  Be sure to check out Jose's article about the adventure.

Charlie Levine of Marlin Magazine also joined us on the DR Adventure.  Stay tuned for his feature article coming in next month's issue!

A team of 12 selfless volunteers traveled with us to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, spending the last week of July providing aid to impoverished children and families.  Our hosts, Brad and Brooke Jenkins of Alliance 29:11, are heavily involved in both identifying and providing for the widespread needs of this area.  With their guidance, our team was able to distribute various school supplies, clothing, and toiletries.

We spent our time in the D.R. enjoying very meaningful work, such as the construction of showers in Munoz, a community where the residents bathed in the same stream from which they would often drink.  Austin Davis, Charlie Levine, Scott Mullins, Michael Whitten, Adam Newquist, and Steve Barlow enjoyed the laughter of children dancing when the faucets were first turned on!

Because the local water source is tainted with deadly bacteria, parasites, and waterborne diseases, we budgeted a great deal of our resources to provide for over 50 families to receive water filtration systems!

Another significant portion of the funding available for this trip went toward building a means of shelter for Muriel, a mother of 8 children, the youngest being only 18 months old.  Upon our arrival, we found her existing “home” to be rotten and completely infested with termites.  Without a floor and very little furniture or even enough beds, they were pretty much living in mud.  Over the following three days John Sisk, Rex Simpson, Brad Jackson, and Steven Ritchie along with Jose Wejebe and Mike Torbisco constructed a much improved dry and secure place for this family to live.  By the end of the project, many of Muriel’s friends and neighbors joined our team and eagerly assisted with the house as well as construction of a bed and table from the remaining scrap lumber!

We found the Dominican people to be very friendly, appreciative, and helpful.  In addition to these relief projects our long-term desire is to raise the funding necessary to build and maintain orphanages so that cycles may be broken and future generations impacted.  The sport fishing community has the opportunity to be a part of making a lasting difference in the lives of the less fortunate.  For this trip alone, our industry came together in a big way.  Specifically, Rick Alvarez, of the International Billfish Shootout along with Andy New of the Marina at Cap Cana donated a portion of tournament proceeds to Reel Life Adventures to be used specifically for humanitarian needs within the D.R.  Bill Shedd and AFTCO got involved by donating around 100 shirts to be distributed to the poor.  In addition, Charlie Levine and Jose Wejebe joined our team for hands on involvement along with a first-hand look at what RLA is all about.  Stay tuned for a feature story in the October issue of “MARLIN” as well as some incredible video footage with Jose!  Many thanks go out to these two outstanding guys for their involvement and the incredible exposure they are providing! 

Our trip concluded with our signature day of big game fishing, where Steven Ritchie and Scott Mullins each landed their first blue!  As we celebrated the accomplishments of the week over dinner at the beautiful Cap Cana Resort, we all agreed that our time here was very well spent and that we would definitely be back next year!

RLA gives special thanks to Ando (La Miranda) and Carlos (La Bury), who graciously donated the charters for our day of fishing.