It’s the biggest day of the year in a place built on big-game sportfishing. It’s the day of the famous 
shotgun start, when boats speed out of the Cabo San Lucas Marina before dispersing in whichever direction the captain thinks the fish might be biting, anglers strapped into fighting chairs hoping to pull in the qualifying black or blue marlin that will earn their team a check in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It, of course, is the opening of Bisbee’s Black & Blue Tournament, AKA “The Super Bowl of Sportfishing” and “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament.”
Oh by the way: that day is today!
Actually, the tournament started a little early this year, on Monday, when Black & Blue founder Bob Bisbee, Sr. – who started it all back in 1982, and passed away on June 18 – had his ashes scattered by family near Land’s End.
But the shotgun start was this morning at 8 a.m. The Black & Blue is now underway, with fishing on tap today, tomorrow and Friday, before the winners are crowned at an awards celebration on Saturday.
The Black & Blue Marlin Tournament has come a long way in 36 years, from the inaugural event in which six boats competed for $10,000 in prize money, to today’s million dollar plus purses. But the spirit remains the same. It’s a celebration of fishing, and a celebration of Cabo San Lucas, the place that became a world-class tourist destination in only 50 years…starting from the day the town’s 300 or so residents started phasing out the lone industry, the cannery, to save the big catches for visiting fishermen.
Nowadays, it’s not just the Black & Blue that brings anglers. Los Cabos has a full-fledged fishing tournament season, and as of today, fishing season is at its highest pitch.
What might be termed “fishing tournament season” unofficially kicks off in June in Los Cabos, continuing through November. But the season really begins in earnest with the first of Bisbee’s trio of annual tournaments, the East Cape Offshore. This year’s ECO, held in August, broke records for its prize money, which reached an all-time high for the tournament of over $657,000.
The second tournament, Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore–familiarly known as “Little Bisbee’s” to differentiate it from the Black & Blue, or “Big Bisbee’s”–isn’t so little anymore. This year’s LCO, which just finished Sunday, also saw a record prize money payout: $1,165,000. That makes it the 8th fishing tournament in the world to top the million mark.
Over 120 teams competed in the LCO this year – 123 to be exact, comprising 763 anglers – and the tournament continued its commitment to charity, donating over a ton of fish caught during the four-day event, or an estimated 8,607 meals to local families.
The Black & Blue, naturally, leads the list of tournaments with lucrative prize money, and its 2006 payout of over 4.6 million dollars remains the richest of all-time. But although it remains the biggest, the Black & Blue isn’t the last major tournament of the Los Cabos fishing season. That honor belongs to the WON Tuna Jackpot, which takes place Nov. 7 – 10….a mere two weeks from now.
WON, for the uninitiated, is the Western Outdoor News, a California based sportsman’s weekly that has a long history with Los Cabos, dating back to the 1950s, when Baja columnist Ray Cannon’s rave fishing reviews helped put the area on the destination travel map. The WON Tuna Jackpot paid out over $677,000 to winners last year, and this year’s prize money is expected to top $750,000.
The enormous payouts and charity efforts are the reason Cabo San Lucas becomes the fishing capital of the world this time of year, and why fishing season in Los Cabos continues to lure so many anglers.
Where else in the world can you spend your autumn weekends fishing, with a chance to make so much money?
For more information about events, activities and villa rentals in Los Cabos, call us TOLL FREE at 1-888-655-4548, visit www.LosCabosVillas.com, or email us at Info@LosCabosVillas.com.
- Chris Sands is co-founder of CaboVivo, co-writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook, Editor at Baja.Ca, and a contributor to Forbes, USA Today and Cabo Living, as well as other websites and publications.
Photo credit: Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament. 
Keywords: Bisbee’s Black and Blue, marlin fishing in Cabo, fishing in Cabo, fishing tournaments in Cabo, events in Cabo, October events in Cabo, WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot, Los Cabos Billfish Tournament,
Upcoming Event Calendar
September
Día de la Independencia (Independence Day) – Sep. 16
October
25th Baja Ha-Ha Cruisers Rally – Oct. 28 – Nov. 10
Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) – Oct. 31 – Nov. 2
November
Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) – Oct. 31 – Nov. 2
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Nov. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Life Luxe Jazz Experience at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica – Nov. 1 – 4
Cruising for the Critters (Humane Society Fundraiser) – Nov. 3
IRONMAN 70.3 Latin American Tri Club Championship – Nov. 4
Adidas Golf Invitational at Cabo del Sol – Nov. 6 – 11
WON Tuna Jackpot – Nov. 7 – 10
Los Cabos International Film Festival – Nov. 7 – 11
SCORE Baja 1000 – Nov. 14 – 18
Día de la Revolución (Revolution Day) – Nov. 20
Día de Acción de Gracias (Thanksgiving) – Nov. 22
December
Sabor a Cabo Food & Wine Festival – Dec. 1
Dressed to the K-9s Charity Gala – Dec. 1
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Dec. 6, 13, 20, 27
Virgin of Guadalupe Feast Day – Dec. 12
Las Posadas – Dec. 16 – 24
Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) – Dec. 24
Navidad (Christmas) – Dec. 25
Día de los Inocentes – Dec. 28
Nochevieja (New Year’s Eve) – Dec. 31
January 2019
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Día de los Tres Reyes Magos – Jan. 6
Tropic of Cancer Concert Series in Todos Santos – Jan. 10 – 20
Los Cabos Pro-Am at Cabo del Sol – Jan. 14 – 18
La Ventana Classic (Kiteboard and Windsurfing Tournament) – Jan. 16 – 20
February
Todos Santos Writers Workshop – Feb. 2 – 9
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – Feb. 7, 14, 21, 28
Todos Santos Artists’ Open Studios Tour – Feb. 9 – 10
Día del Amor y la Amistad (Valentine’s Day) – Feb. 14
Carnaval La Paz – Feb. 28 – Mar. 5
March
Carnaval La Paz – Feb. 28 – Mar. 5
Art Walk in San Jose del Cabo – March 6, 13, 20, 27
Cabo Collegiate at Querencia – March 3 – 5
Please let me know what you think about this!