One Fish, $5.6 Million: Inside the 2026 Bisbee's Black & Blue in Cabo San Lucas
One marlin decided the richest week in sportfishing. At the 46th Bisbee's Black & Blue, held October 21 to 23, 2026 in Cabo San Lucas, only one fish made the 300-lb minimum. That 491-lb blue marlin paid its team $5,629,300.
That is 75% of a $7,464,250 total purse, won by a single fish on the first morning.
The fish that won it all
Contango's Spartan's Revenge, captained by Jeff Villarroel, hooked the blue on Day 1. Angler Kevin Miranda fought it for 2 hours and 2 minutes before it came aboard.
It weighed in at 491 lbs at the Puerto Paraíso scale. Then the team waited two more days to find out what it was worth.
Why one fish took 75% of the money
No marlin qualified on Day 2 or Day 3. With no other qualifying fish, the Day 2 and Day 3 jackpots rolled back to the Day 1 marlin. Every day's money flowed to Spartan's Revenge.
Here is how that one fish paid out:
- $500 Daily Jackpot: $181,050
- $1K Daily Jackpot: $359,550
- $2K Daily Jackpot: $637,500
- $3K Daily Jackpot: $902,700
- $5K Daily Jackpot: $1,351,500
- $10K Daily Jackpot: $1,759,500
- Overall Top Team: $393,750
- Overall Top Captain: $43,750
Total: $5,629,300, or 75% of the $7,464,250 purse
The release teams still cashed in
Release divisions paid out every day, at 300 points per blue or black marlin released.
- Day 1: A Blueish Hue, Capt. Keith Hilton, swept the $2K and $3K divisions for $211,650. It caught the first fish of the tournament and released a blue every day.
- Day 2: Never Say Never, Capt. Scott Flores, swept the $2K and $3K divisions for $211,650 with two blues released for 600 points.
- Day 3: Right Rigger, Capt. Alex Rogers, took the $2K division for $117,300.
- Day 3: Cottonpicker, Capt. Joel McLeod, took the $3K division for $94,350.
2026 by the numbers
175 teams and 1,292 anglers fished three days off Land's End. They caught 38 marlin, released 34 and weighed 4. Just 1 qualified.
That ratio says something about this tournament. Teams put real money into the jackpots knowing most will go home empty. They come anyway, every October, because there is no other week like it.
What Bisbee's week tells you about Cabo
For one week, Cabo San Lucas is the center of the sportfishing world. The marina fills with sportfishers, the boardwalk fills with crowds, and the people who can put thousands into a daily jackpot are all in one town.
Many of them don't leave after the weigh-in. They come back for the next tournament, then the next season, then they start asking what it takes to own here.
If that sounds like you, here is where tournament regulars tend to look:
- Cabo San Lucas Marina: walk to the boat in the morning and to dinner at night.
- El Pedregal: the hillside above the marina, with ocean views and privacy minutes from the docks.
- Diamante: a private resort community with golf, a beach club and large estate homes.
- The Tourist Corridor: oceanfront villas and condos between Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo.
Each area has a very different price point, rental profile and ownership structure. Foreign buyers typically purchase through a fideicomiso (bank trust) in this zone, and the process runs through a Mexican notario.
Own where the world comes to fish
I'm Alen Fabjan, Managing Broker at The Oppenheim Group Cabo. I help buyers and sellers across Los Cabos, from marina condos to Diamante estates.
If you want a place of your own in Cabo before next October's tournament, fill out the form below and I'll send you current listings that match what you're looking for. Prefer to reach me directly?
Email [email protected], or send me a DM with the word CABO on Instagram at @alen_ogroupcabo
Congratulations to Capt. Jeff Villarroel, angler Kevin Miranda and the entire Contango's Spartan's Revenge team. Results and payouts courtesy of Bisbee's Black & Blue.
