Every October, the marina at Cabo San Lucas transforms into the most high-stakes stretch of saltwater on the planet. Sportfishing boats worth millions glide past the iconic El Arco rock arch, crews fine-tune their tackle, and teams prepare to chase Black and Blue Marlin for purses that regularly exceed $7 million. This is the Bisbee’s Black & Blue – the Marlin tournament that Sports Illustrated famously called the “Super Bowl of Fishing.”
Whether you’re assembling a crew to compete, chartering a boat for a shot at a life-changing check, or planning to watch giant Marlin hit the scales at the Puerto Paraíso weigh station, here’s everything you need to know.
What Is the Bisbee’s Black & Blue?
The Bisbee’s Black & Blue is the world’s biggest Marlin-only sportfishing tournament held each October in Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Founded by Bob Bisbee in 1981, the tournament has grown from just six teams competing for a $10,000 purse into a global spectacle that now draws 150–200+ teams and tens of millions in cumulative payouts.
The target species are Black Marlin and Blue Marlin – the two leviathans that give the tournament its name. Cabo sits where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez, creating a fishery loaded with bait fish and warm currents that attract trophy Billfish every fall. It’s no coincidence the city carries the unofficial title “Marlin Capital of the World.”
The format is straightforward, but the stakes are enormous. Teams enter at a base level, add optional jackpots to raise the ceiling on their potential winnings, and then fish three days of competition. One qualifying fish can turn a week in Cabo into a seven-figure payday.
History of the Bisbee’s Black & Blue
The story starts not in Mexico but at a bait and tackle shop on Balboa Island in Newport Bay, California. Bob Bisbee ran the shop and an adjacent fuel dock, serving the offshore fleet that traveled the West Coast. During the summer of 1981, former US Air Force pilot Luis Coppola, owner of the Hotel Finisterra in Cabo, and his nephew Bill Baffert met with Bisbee at his fuel dock. Together, they developed the idea of a Marlin tournament off the tip of Baja.
Six boats entered the first Bisbee tournament, and Bob Bisbee Sr. won the $10,000 prize. From that modest start, the event grew quickly. By 1990, the prize money had reached nearly $750,000.
In 1995, Bisbee turned over day-to-day tournament operations to his son Wayne. Wayne and his sister Tricia expanded the brand, adding the Los Cabos Offshore and East Cape Offshore events. In 2003, the team aboard Que Sera received the first million-dollar check ever awarded in a sportfishing tournament.
Bob Bisbee passed away in 2018, but his family has continued the legacy. The organization now runs four tournaments across Mexico and Costa Rica. The Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund supports marine and habitat conservation across the Baja region, and tournament director Wayne Bisbee has noted that cumulative payouts exceeded $100 million by the 40th anniversary.
When Is the Bisbee’s Black & Blue in 2026?
The tournament will be held in October, with three official days of fishing from October 21 to 23, 2026. The full event week spans October 19–24.
Here’s the official 2026 schedule:
| Event | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Registration (no bag distribution) | October 12 and October 19 | 3:00–6:00 p.m. |
| Registration & Bag Distribution | October 20 | 3:00–7:00 p.m. |
| Captains Meeting | October 20 | 7:00 p.m. |
| Opening Ceremonies | October 20 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Fishing Day 1 (Shotgun Start) | October 21 | 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Fishing Day 2 | October 22 | 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Fishing Day 3 | October 23 | 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. |
| Weigh Station (each fishing day) | October 21–23 | 2:00–9:00 p.m. |
| Awards Celebration | October 24 | 6:00 p.m. at The Place at Cabo |
Pre-registration happens dockside, steps from the weigh station in the space that used to be a Ruth’s Chris. Every team needs at least one representative at Tuesday’s Captains Meeting – it’s not optional.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue Entry Fees and Divisions
The fee structure is what separates the Bisbee’s from every other tournament on Earth. The base entry is accessible, but the optional jackpots are where the massive payouts originate.
Base entry fee
The tournament base entry fee is $5,000 per team. Half of that goes toward awards, and it’s split unevenly between two groups:
- Teams keep the lion’s share at 90%,
- The remaining 10% is set aside for the winning captains.
Paying the base entry gets your team angler merchandise plus Awards Celebration access for four people – extra passes and gear are available for purchase on-site.
Added-entry levels or categories
This is where the math gets serious. Daily Jackpots aren’t mandatory, but 85 cents of every dollar comes back out as prize money, which is why so many teams buy in. One catch: entering a jackpot level locks you in for the full three-day run, not a single day – so the $500 level actually means writing a $1,500 check upfront.
Daily Jackpot levels range from $500 to $10,000 per day. Release Daily Jackpots at the $2,000 and $3,000 levels reward teams competing on accumulated release points rather than weight. The across-the-board cost listed by Bisbee’s is $84,500.
On top of that, teams can opt into the Chupacabra Challenge – a $20,000 daily jackpot with a 100% return. That’s $60,000 for three days. Including the Chupacabra Challenge, a team going all-in invests $144,500 before fuel, tackle, and charter costs.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue Prize Money
There are no fixed purses. Every dollar of prize money comes from team entry fees and jackpot buy-ins – the more teams that enter, and the more jackpots they choose, the bigger the pot. This structure is what produces the headline-grabbing numbers. Year-to-year fluctuation is normal because the purse depends entirely on fleet size and jackpot participation.
Here’s how recent editions have paid out:
| Year | Teams | Total Purse |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 223 | $11,651,300 |
| 2023 | ~165 | ~$9,000,000 |
| 2024 | 174 | $6,847,200 |
| 2025 | 177 | $7,452,775 |
Here’s how the pool breaks down by category:
| Category | Payout Basis |
|---|---|
| Overall Top Teams | 90% of the base-entry award pool, split among the five heaviest qualifying Marlin |
| Overall Top Captains | 10% of the base-entry award pool, split among the captains of those same five teams |
| Daily Jackpots | 85% return, paid to the heaviest qualifying Marlin of each fishing day at the level entered |
| Release Jackpots | Paid on accumulated Billfish release points per day, not weight |
| Chupacabra Challenge | 100% return, paid to the single heaviest qualifying Marlin each day |
Fun fact: a team that finishes second overall can actually take home more money than the winner if they entered more jackpot levels. In 2025, Rising Sons Magnifico took home $2,588,675 for their second-place 457 lb Blue Marlin – more than the $2,440,850 earned by first-place Magic Touch – because they had purchased more optional entries.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue Rules and Eligibility
Point system
The Bisbee’s Black & Blue focuses on Blue Marlin and Black Marlin. Only Black or Blue Marlin weighing 300 lb or more qualify for the weight categories. Each qualifying pound over 300 earns one point.
The penalty system exists to discourage teams from weighing small fish just to be safe. Come in under 300 lb and you don’t just miss out on points – you go negative: zero points for the fish itself, a flat 25-point deduction, and another 2 points knocked off for every pound short of the mark. Bring a 250 lb Marlin to the scale and your team takes a 125-point hit.
The message is clear: release anything that isn’t a legitimate contender.
Fishing Format
Teams fish three days. The fleet launches with a shotgun start at 7:00 AM each morning – all boats must be behind the start line by 6:45 AM. Lines must be out of the water by 5:00 PM. Each boat can weigh up to two fish per day, with a limit of one per angler per day.
Boats have to stay within 50 miles of Cabo San Lucas for the whole tournament – anything caught outside that grid doesn’t count, no matter the size.
All other Billfish species – including Striped Marlin, Sailfish, and Spearfish – must be released. Special prizes are available in the Release Division for teams competing on accumulated release points.
The weigh station sits in front of Puerto Paraíso Mall. Boats must enter the harbor by 9:00 PM to have their fish weighed. Miss the cutoff and your fish doesn’t count – no exceptions.
Key rules
Besides the fishing format, there are some additional rules to have in mind:
- Teams are allowed to keep a fish’s mouth taped shut on the way to the scale, though the tape comes off once the Weighmaster has the fish hoisted.
- Trying to game the system with a false radio report is an automatic disqualification, and the team forfeits every dollar they put in.
- Every weighed fish is donated to the local nonprofit Feeding Los Cabos Kids after the official weigh-in. In 2024, roughly 88% of the 123 Marlin caught were released, while the harvested fish provided an estimated 47,000 meals through Feeding Los Cabos Kids.
Licensing requirements
All anglers aboard competing boats must hold a valid Mexican fishing license, issued by CONAPESCA (Mexico’s National Commission of Aquaculture and Fishing). Here’s what to know:
- Mexican fishing licenses are required for all persons aboard a vessel fishing in Mexican waters, regardless of age or interest in fishing.
- Most Cabo charter operators can arrange licenses on your behalf. You can also purchase them online in advance.
- Tournament rules are updated annually. Always check bisbees.com for the current rulebook before registering.
Rules can change – always check with the relevant authority before heading out.
How to Enter the Bisbee’s Black & Blue
Registration is handled online through bisbees.com, where teams can download and submit an entry form along with the base fee of $5,000, selecting any optional jackpot categories at that time. Pre-registration is available on October 12 and October 19. Full registration and bag distribution happen on October 20.
An early bird deadline (typically August 1) enters your team into a drawing for a free entry into the following year’s tournament. Full refund withdrawals are also available before that deadline. There’s no cap on team size, either – you just need every angler, captain, and deckhand signed up on the roster during registration.
Don’t own a boat? You can book a charter.
Many teams – especially first-timers and international visitors – charter a local Cabo boat for the tournament. You don’t need to own a sportfisher to compete. Experienced local captains know the waters, the Marlin patterns, and the tournament logistics inside and out.
Fishing charters in Cabo San Lucas are plentiful, and many are also tournament-ready sportfishing boats with seasoned crews. When inquiring, ask the captain about Bisbee’s experience, tackle setup, and what’s included in the charter rate versus tournament expenses (entry fees, fuel surcharges, bait, and the Mexican fishing license).
For more on Cabo’s year-round fishery and what to expect on the water, check out our Complete Guide to Fishing in Cabo San Lucas.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue Notable Winners and Records
Over more than four decades, the Bisbee’s has produced some of the most dramatic moments in competitive fishing. The event has generated 16 checks over $1 million since 1981, including five exceeding $2 million and two topping $3 million. Here are the catches that define the tournament’s legacy.
2025 – Magic Touch’s photo-finish win
Captain Kim Manning’s Magic Touch team took the 45th Annual Bisbee’s Black & Blue with a 459 lb Blue Marlin caught on the final day, edging second-place Rising Sons/Magnifico by just two pounds. Magic Touch earned $2,440,850 for the win, while Rising Sons/Magnifico’s 457 lb Blue Marlin actually brought in more – $2,588,675 – after the team bought into more optional jackpot levels. It was Manning’s second Bisbee’s title in 22 years of competing, following an earlier win in 2019.
2023 – Stella June’s record-breaking $4.4 million payday
Jakob Gonterman, an angler on Team Stella June, hooked a Black Marlin on Thursday – Day One – and landed it at 3:00 PM. The fish weighed 368 lb. Because the team had bought into every available jackpot, including carry-over “Let it Ride” jackpots from 2020 and 2021, the payout snowballed.
The total came to $497,650 from the Los Cabos Offshore tournament and $3,906,550 from the Black & Blue, for a combined $4,404,200. That check surpassed Bad Company’s 2006 record of $3,902,997 and stands as the largest single payout in sportfishing history.
2014 – The Casa Hogar miracle
After Hurricane Odile devastated Cabo San Lucas in September 2014, the Bisbee’s Fish & Wildlife Conservation Fund set up a relief program that covered the $5,000 entry fee for teams using local charter boats. Casa Hogar, a Cabo orphanage, entered the tournament and landed a 385 lb Blue Marlin, earning $258,325 in prize money.
The story of the orphanage’s triumph inspired the 2021 Netflix film Blue Miracle, starring Dennis Quaid. The film is loosely based on the true events of the 2014 Bisbee’s Black & Blue. It remains the tournament’s most widely known story outside the sportfishing world.
All-Time Tournament Record
The largest fish ever weighed at the Bisbee’s Black & Blue goes back to the tournament’s first decade. On opening day of the 1994 event, Phil Gentile – fishing his very first tournament – brought a 993 lb Blue Marlin to the scale aboard the 40′ sportfisher Picante. The fish was large enough to win both the daily jackpot and that year’s bonus prize, a 35′ Cabo Yacht awarded for any Marlin over 600 lb caught on Day One. More than three decades later, no team has topped it, and the win put Picante on the map as one of Cabo’s best-known charter operations, still running trips out of Cabo San Lucas today.
Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore
Often called “Little Bisbee’s,” the Los Cabos Offshore has grown from a warm-up event into a multimillion-dollar tournament in its own right. Founded in 2002, it runs the week before the Black & Blue in Cabo San Lucas.
The Los Cabos Offshore is a two-day tournament with a broader species list that includes Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Striped Marlin, Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna, and Sailfish. The 2026 edition runs October 12–17, with a base entry of $1,500 and an across-the-board cost of $36,000.
The 2025 edition featured 139 teams and more than $2.7 million in prize money. Many teams fish both events, using the Los Cabos Offshore as a tune-up before the main event. In 2023, Stella June’s combined $4.4 million payout included winnings from both tournaments, which ran on overlapping schedules that year.
If you’re planning a Cabo trip for tournament week, consider arriving early enough to watch – or even fish – the Los Cabos Offshore. The atmosphere builds throughout the month and there’s nothing better than to prepare for the “big” Bisbee’s hype than start with “little” one.
Bisbee’s Black & Blue Spectator Experience
You don’t need a boat or a team to experience the Bisbee’s as a spectator. The weigh-ins at Puerto Paraíso Mall on the Cabo San Lucas marina are open to the public and free to attend. Thousands of fans line the marina during each weigh-in to watch trophy Marlin brought to the scales.
The weigh station opens at 2:00 PM each fishing day and stays active until 9:00 PM. Boats returning with potential qualifiers back into the marina to cheers and live commentary. When a giant Marlin is hoisted to the scale – often well after sunset – the energy is electric.
The shotgun start each morning is visible from Cabo’s marina breakwater, with the fleet roaring past the famous Arch of Cabo. The Awards Celebration takes place Saturday evening at The Place at Cabo and is limited to team members and pass holders. For everyone else, the weigh station is where the drama unfolds – arrive by 3:00 PM to secure a position along the rail near the scale.
You can follow the action in real time through live scoring on CatchStat, which tracks every hookup, release, and weigh-in as it happens.
Bisbee's Black & Blue FAQs
Whether you’re chasing a qualifying Marlin or just want to feel the roar of the crowd when a giant fish hits the scale, the Bisbee’s Black & Blue is the ultimate October experience in Cabo San Lucas. FishingBooker makes it easy to find tournament-ready charters in Cabo – filter by boat size, trip type, and crew experience to find a fit for your team.
For more on Marlin fishing in Cabo and what makes these waters so special, explore our destination guides and start planning.
The concept and outline of this article were created by people engaged by FishingBooker. Artificial intelligence tools were used to flesh out and reformat information into a blog article. Before being published, this article was edited and fact-checked by FishingBooker staff.
The post Bisbee’s Black & Blue 2026: Tournament Dates, Fees, Prizes, Rules, and How to Fish and Watch appeared first on FishingBooker Blog.
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