10/25/2026
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Congratulations to Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament. The 46th Bisbee's Black & Blue: Lines in the Water Off Cabo San Lucas
The 46th annual Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin Tournament opened its first fishing day this morning in Cabo San Lucas. Tournament week runs October 19–24, 2026: registration, the captains meeting and opening ceremonies took place Tuesday, October 20; teams fish Wednesday through Friday, October 21–23; and the awards celebration follows Saturday, October 24, at The Place at Cabo. Long known in sportfishing circles as the "Super Bowl of Sportfishing," the event draws crews from Mexico, the United States, Japan and beyond to compete for blue and black marlin within 50 miles of Cabo San Lucas.
The 2026 Tournament
Entry and jackpots. The base entry is $5,000 per team. From there, teams can buy into optional daily jackpots ranging from $500 to $10,000 per day, plus release jackpots; entering every category costs $84,500. A separate $20,000-per-day jackpot, the Chupacabra Challenge, sits on top of that. Jackpot entries are committed for all three days, not one at a time. Because every dollar of the purse comes from entries, the final total is not known until registration closes. Recent editions paid $6,847,200 (2024) and $7,452,775 (2025); the record purse, $11,651,300, was offered in 2022.
Rules and standards. Only blue and black marlin of at least 300 pounds qualify for the weight categories, with one point awarded per pound. Bringing a marlin under 300 pounds to the scale earns zero points, a 25-point penalty and an additional two points deducted for every pound short, with the deduction taken from the team's largest qualifying fish. Striped marlin, sailfish and spearfish are release-only, and teams entered in the Release Division earn points for documented releases.
The schedule. Each fishing day begins with the 7:00 a.m. sh***un start; boats must be behind the start line near the Arch by 6:45 a.m. Lines come out of the water at 5:00 p.m. The weigh station in front of Puerto Paraíso is open from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m., and boats must be inside the harbor by 9:00 p.m. for a fish to be weighed. Weigh-ins are free and open to the public.
A Brief History: From Six Boats to Multi-Million-Dollar Checks
A 1981 start.
The tournament traces to Bob Bisbee Sr., who ran a fuel dock and tackle shop on Balboa Island in Newport Bay, California, serving the offshore fleet that traveled the West Coast. In 1981 he developed the idea of a marlin tournament off the tip of Baja with Luis Coppola, owner of Cabo's Hotel Finisterra. Six boats entered the first event, which offered a prize of roughly $10,000, and Bisbee's own team won it.
Growth under the next generation.
In 1995, Bob's children Wayne and Tricia Bisbee took over operations. Built on a jackpot format that allows a single qualifying fish to pay out several times over, the event's purses climbed steadily. In 2003, the team aboard *Que Sera* received the tournament's first seven-figure check, $1,165,230, for a 656-pound blue marlin. Bob Bisbee Sr. died in 2018 at 85; the family continues to run the Bisbee's circuit.
Records. The heaviest fish in tournament history remains a 993-pound blue marlin weighed on opening day in 1994 aboard *Picante*. In 2006, Anthony Hsieh's *Bad Company* received $3,902,997, a single-team record that stood for 17 years until Team *Stella June* collected $4,404,200 in 2023 across the Black & Blue and the concurrent Los Cabos Offshore. In 2022, 223 teams entered and the purse reached $11,651,300; after unclaimed jackpots, $7,564,725 was paid out, still the largest award total in the event's history.
KT's Insider Look
October changes the pace of Cabo San Lucas. At first light the fleet gathers near the Arch, throttles idling, waiting for the flare at seven before more than a hundred sportfishers run offshore toward the Gordo Banks or the Pacific drop-offs. By mid-afternoon the attention moves to the boardwalk at Puerto Paraíso. When word comes over the radio that a heavy marlin is on the deck and headed for the harbor, the crowd along the rail starts to build, and by dark it can be several people deep. Win or lose, this is the week the cape's sportfishing community comes home.
