The good news is that the Bisbee’s tide is raising all boats. So if you like fishing and you like money, start registering for Los Cabos incredible collection of tournaments right now!

The action starts in June, when Pelagic kicks it off with over $500,000 on the line in its 8th annual Triple Crown of Fishing. This should be another great summer season, setting the stage for the even bigger money tournaments to come this fall.

Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing Tournament – June 2 – 5

Bisbee’s isn’t the only organizer of big money fishing tournaments in Los Cabos. Water sports apparel maker non pareil Pelagic returns to host its 8th annual Summer Slam this June, a two day, team fishing competition in which fishermen and women target black, blue and striped marlin, as well as tuna, wahoo and dorado. Base entry is $3,500 per team, with $72,000 across-the-board for all jackpots and challenges. The all-in figure is a massive leap over previous years, and an indication Pelagic is stepping up in class. Cash prizes are expected to top $500,000 in 2022, positioning the tournament as a slam-bang kick-off to what is sure to be another record breaking season.

Stars and Stripes Golf and Fishing Tournament – June 22 – 26

During the 20+ years of its existence, the annual Stars and Stripes’ golf and fishing tournament has raised over 40 million dollars for youth focused charities. But it’s not simply a tournament or a charity benefit…more like a complete lifestyle experience. Participants stay at the luxurious Hilton Los Cabos; go big-game sport fishing for dorado, wahoo, tuna, sailfish, swordfish, and black, blue and striped marlin; play golf at some of the world’s best golf courses; and enjoy spectacular live entertainment nightly. There’s no word as yet on this year’s headliner. Expect a big name, though. Sammy Hagar and other rock star royalty have performed in recent years.

East Cape Dorado Shootout – July 16

This is one of the largest fishing tournaments in Southern Baja, with an average turnout of 130 teams each year. What makes it so popular? The opportunity to win a brand new, fully-loaded 2022 Volkswagen 4×4 Amarok pickup truck, of course. The rules are simple, catch the biggest dorado on July 16th and you win the truck. There will also be great prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, as well as for the largest tuna and largest wahoo caught that day. The beauty of this one-day tournament format is that anyone can win. After the tournament, Palmas De Cortez in Los Barriles will host the award ceremony, which is unlike any in Baja, with dinner, music, a raffle, and more. The combined cash and prizes here are expected to top $200,000 in 2022.

Ladies Only Fishing Tournament at Palmas de Cortez – July 20 – 24

The name doesn’t lie. Only lady anglers are eligible to participate (in teams of up to four) in this two-day fishing tournament hosted by Palmas de Cortez…although captains and deckhands can be men. The first version of this tournament was held in 2019 – and was a rousing success, as was the second iteration in 2021. The entry fee is $200 per team, with points awarded according to the species of fish reeled in. Billfish (200 pts.) and roosterfish (100 pts.) are catch and release, with photo verification. Tuna, wahoo, dorado, amberjack and jack crevalle are all worth 100 points, assuming they meet minimum weight standards. The winning team nets a return trip for the entire team, including a four nights accommodation package at Palmas de Cortez, with two days of standard cruiser fishing. Prizes for the runner-up teams (2nd and 3rd place) will be announced at the awards ceremony.

Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore – August 2 – 6

The East Cape Offshore kicks off Bisbee’s 2022 series starting August 2nd. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three qualifiers in marlin, tuna and dorado categories, with the awards celebration taking place afterwards at the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort. Base entry for the event is $1,500 per team, with additional fees for daily jackpots ($32,000 “across the board”). Prize money is based on entry fees received, with 60% going to the billfish winners, and 20% each to top tuna and dorado anglers. For first-timers, each tournament in the Bisbee’s series has an Early Bird Drawing. The winner of the drawing gets a free entry to the following year’s tournament. To be eligible the paid entry (base entry only) must be received by the Early Bird Deadline (June 30th, 2022 for the ECO). 

East Cape Gold Cup Wahoo Jackpot Tournament – August 20

Similar to the East Cape Dorado Shootout with its drive-away first prize, the biggest wahoo caught on August 20th will earn one lucky fisherman a showroom fresh 2022 Volkswagen Polo. In total, over $100,000 in cash and prizes are expected to be up for grabs, including great raffle prizes, return trips, fishing outings, and much more. The entry fee is only $500 per team and includes dinner at the awards ceremony. 

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post The Reel Deal 2022: Previewing Summer Fishing Tournaments in Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.

So anticipation is naturally high for the 2021 fishing season in Los Cabos, especially as vaccinations throughout North America have brought a much greater level of safety and security in terms of travel and tourism to us all.

As any serious angler and/or long-time visitor to Los Cabos knows, fishing tournament season starts in the early summer and continues through November, effectively comprising about a six-month window of opportunities for both massive fun and massive profit.

Why this time of year, you might ask? Well, the fishing may be great year-round round in always sunny Los Cabos, but the fishing for those species people are most desirous of catching – primarily enormous billfish like blue and black marlin – are best during the summer and fall.

With that in mind, here’s what’s on tap in terms of summer fishing tournaments in Los Cabos for 2021.

So plan accordingly!

Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing Tournament – June 10 to 12

Bisbee’s isn’t the only organizer of big money fishing tournaments in Los Cabos. Water sports apparel maker non pareil Pelagic returns to host its popular Triple Crown of Fishing tournament to kick off the summer season, with teams targeting black, blue and striped marlin, as well as tuna, wahoo and dorado. The 2020 tournament was canceled because of quarantine conditions in Los Cabos, but the 2021 event is on schedule and recently opened up registration. Base entry is $3,500 per team (up to six anglers), with $19,000 across-the-board for all jackpots and challenges. Prize money is tied to the number of teams entered, of course, but a reasonable expectation relative to past tournaments puts the estimate in the $350,000 overall range.

East Cape Dorado Shootout – July 17

This is one of the largest fishing tournaments in Baja California Sur, with an average turnout of 130 teams each year. What makes it so popular? The opportunity to win a brand new, fully-loaded 2021 Volkswagen 4×4 Amarok pickup truck, of course. The rules are simple, catch the biggest dorado on July 17th and you win the truck. There will also be great prizes for 2nd and 3rd place, as well as for the largest tuna and largest wahoo caught that day. The beauty of this one-day tournament format is that anyone can win. After the tournament, Palmas De Cortez in Los Barriles will host the awards ceremony, which is unlike any other locally, with dinner, music, a raffle, and more. The combined prizes and jackpots here typically top $130,000.

Ladies Only Fishing Tournament at Palmas de Cortez – July 22 to 26

The name doesn’t lie. Only lady anglers are eligible to participate (in teams of up to four) in this two-day fishing tournament hosted by Palmas de Cortez…although captains and deckhands can be men. The first iteration of this tournament was held in 2019 – and was a rousing success – with the second annual version delayed until 2021 due to Covid-19 concerns in 2020. The entry fee is $200 per team, with points awarded according to the species of fish reeled in. Billfish (200 pts.) and roosterfish (100 pts.) are catch and release, with photo verification. Tuna, wahoo, dorado, amberjack and jack crevalle are all worth 100 points, assuming they meet minimum weight standards. The winning team nets a return trip for the entire team, including a four nights accommodation package at Palmas de Cortez, with two days of standard cruiser fishing. Prizes for the runner-up teams (2nd and 3rd place) will be announced at the awards ceremony on Saturday, July 24th.

Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore – August 3 to 7

The East Cape Offshore kicks off Bisbee’s 2021 series starting August 3rd. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three qualifiers in marlin, tuna and dorado categories, with the awards celebration taking place afterwards at the Hotel Buena Vista Beach Resort. Base entry for the event is $1500 per team, with additional fees for daily jackpots ($32,000 “across the board”). Prize money is based on entry fees received, with 60% going to the billfish winners, and 20% each to top tuna and dorado anglers. Last year’s ECO broke records for attendance and the largest purse in the history of the tournament, as well as the largest fish ever caught. A record 72 teams competed for the record 1.1 million dollar purse – the first time the tournament had ever cracked the million dollar mark – with the added bonus of a 704 lb. blue marlin being reeled in. That too, of course, was the largest in the history of the event.

East Cape Gold Cup Wahoo Jackpot Tournament – August 21

Similar to the East Cape Dorado Shootout with its drive-away first prize, the biggest wahoo caught on August 21st will earn one lucky fisherman a showroom fresh 2021 Volkswagen Golf and a Suzuki 140 horsepower four-stroke outboard engine. In total, over $100,000 in cash and prizes are expected to be up for grabs, including great raffle prizes, return trips, fishing outings, and much more. The entry fee is only $500 per team and includes dinner at the awards ceremony.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Top 5 Summer Fishing Tournaments in Los Cabos for 2021 appeared first on CaboViVO.

Los Cabos tourism, too, was built on fishing. Before the Transpeninsular Highway was completed in 1973, travelers came to the peninsula’s southernmost region by boat or plane, and the reason they came was to fish. From the 1950s onward, pioneer resorts catered to tourists drawn by the region’s burgeoning reputation for big-game sportfishing; in particular, trophy-sized blue and black marlin.

The region’s charms have multiplied exponentially during the past 50 years, from pampering spas to championship-level golf courses, but fishing remains king. The charter boasts lining the Cabo San Lucas Marina are a testament to this fact. So too are the big-money fishing tournaments that draw anglers from around the world.

One doesn’t necessarily have to earn an over-sized check – literally and figuratively – to establish their local bona fides, but annual tournaments like Bisbee’s Black & Blue have turned more than a few fishermen into legends…

The Black & Blue reigns as the longest-running tournament – the granddaddy of them all, the Sea of Cortez Fishing Tournament Internacional, was held only twice, in 1968 and 1969 – but nowadays there are plenty of opportunities to fish competitively for cash and prizes in Los Cabos.

Here are the top 5 fishing tournaments in Los Cabos in 2018:

Cabo Summer Slam/Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing Tournament

Fishing in Los Cabos is a year-round proposition. There is no bad time to cast into the local waters, just variability in terms of what one might expect to catch. But what might be called the Los Cabos tournament season – the period when visiting anglers are not only seeking fish, but also cash money and valuable prizes – begin in early June and continues through early November. This five-month stretch sees a host of tournaments, large and small, and not coincidentally comes during the time of year when huge billfish like blue and black marlin are most abundant.

Much of the summer tournament action is centered around the Los Cabos municipality’s beautiful, less developed East Cape, but Cabo San Lucas is always a focal point when it comes to the biggest sponsors and most lucrative payouts. That’s certainly true of what qualifies as the first major tournament of the 2018 season, the Cabo Summer Slam, AKA the Pelagic Triple Crown of Fishing.

Pelagic, a Newport Beach based company, is one of the world’s leaders when it comes to lifestyle apparel and high-performance gear associated with watersports like fishing, boating, diving and surfing. So it’ll come as no surprise that the Cabo Summer Slam offers some high stakes prizes and jackpots. Over $200,000 is on the line for the 5th annual tournament in 2018 – slated for June 7 to 9 – meaning it’s the biggest Cabo San Lucas based tournament until Bisbee’s big money competitions in October.

For those who love fishing but also crave a complete lifestyle experience, the Stars & Stripes returns with its 22nd annual golf and fishing tournament from June 28 – July 1. Participants stay at the luxurious Hilton Los Cabos; go big-game sportfishing for dorado, wahoo, tuna, sailfish, swordfish, and black, blue and striped marlin; play golf at some of the world’s best golf courses; and enjoy spectacular live entertainment nightly. It’s all for a good cause, as well. Since 1997, the tournament has raised over $26 million dollars for youth-oriented charities.

 Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore

As summer temperatures heat up, the fishing tournament scene migrates to the Los Cabos municipality’s gorgeous East Cape. No less than two separate single-day tournaments – the East Cape Dorado Shootout and Gold Cup Wahoo Jackpot – give away new fully-loaded automobiles to winners, but the region’s summer headliner remains the Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore.

The ECO is the first of three Bisbee’s sponsored fishing tournaments that take place in Los Cabos each year. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three qualifiers in marlin, tuna and dorado categories during the 2018 edition – scheduled for July 31 to August 4 – with the awards celebration taking place afterwards at the Hotel Buena Vista. Base entry for the event is $1500 per team, with additional fees for daily jackpots. Prize money is based on entry fees received, with 60% going to the billfish winners, and 20% each to top tuna and dorado anglers.

 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament

Just as September is El Mes de la Patria, the “the country’s month,” in México, October is the month of the fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas. Bisbee’s two cash-rich tournaments – the Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue – get most of the publicity, but the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament also sends out a siren call to big-game fishermen eager for big-money prizes and jackpots. The three tournaments combined last year to pay out over $4,735,000 to the winners. The 20th annual LCBT – slated for October 14 – 18, 2018 – again features three entry levels:  a $5,000 base entry for each 6-person team; daily jackpots for the largest tuna, wahoo and dorado; and daily billfish release jackpots.

 Bisbee’s Black & Blue

Oft billed as “The World’s Richest Fishing Tournament” and “The Super Bowl of Sportfishing” thanks to its million-dollar payouts, the Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament originally premiered in 1981, and remains to this day the highest profile annual event in Los Cabos. The $4.165 million payout in 2006 was and still is the largest in sportfishing history. Base entry for this millionaire maker is $5,000 U.S. per team, and requires a $71,500 U.S. outlay across all categories, jackpots and challenges. Prizes are awarded for the top five catches of black and blue marlin, assuming they meet the minimum standards (300 lbs.).

Commonly known as “Little Bisbee’s,” to differentiate it from the “Big Bisbee’s” Black & Blue marlin fishing tournament that also takes place each October in Los Cabos, the Los Cabos Offshore dates back to 2002, and is considered a more laid-back, charity focused endeavor than the Black & Blue. Cash prizes are awarded to the teams with the three biggest qualifying fish in the game and billfish categories at the LCO, and large amounts of money are always donated to local causes.

The 2018 LCO will take place October 18 – 21, with the Black & Blue to follow soon after: Oct. 23 – 27.

WON Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot 

The Western Outdoor News 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. Cannon’s 1966 book The Sea of Cortez remains a classic time capsule look at the region and its signature activity, and the WON writers who’ve followed him on the Baja beat have continued to burnish Los Cabos’ reputation as a sportfishing mecca. The WON Tuna Jackpot honors that heritage with one of the larger fishing tournaments in Cabo San Lucas, a fixture of the autumn sporting calendar that follows hard on the heels of the Los Cabos Billfish and Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore and Black & Blue tournaments. The 19th edition in 2017 saw 147 teams competing across 11 events for over $677,000 in prize money. Even bigger things are yet to come, with the 2018 tournament scheduled for November 7 – 10.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer and Michael Mattos

The post The Top 5 Fishing Tournaments in Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.