2014 Bisbee´s Black & Blue Tournament

By Capt. Dave Lear

October 26, 2014; Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur:
As befitting the World’s Richest Fishing Tournament, the Bisbee’s Black & Blue, presented by IGY Marinas, did hand out a whopping $2 million dollars in cash prizes at the awards celebration Saturday night. But the real winners are a local orphanage for boys, as well as the citizens of Los Cabos. After Hurricane Odile slammed ashore last month and caused widespread damage, 125 teams heeded the call to fish anyway and came to town to help jump-start the vital economic recovery.

“In all honesty, up until a couple weeks ago I thought we were going to rally whoever was here at the Baja Cantina, throw some money in a hat and just go fishing to keep the tournament streak going,” said Tournament Director Wayne Bisbee. “But thanks to all our fantastic anglers and sponsors, somehow we pulled it off and the results are just insane. We helped put a lot of people back to work, caught some good fish and we’re definitely leaving Cabo in better shape than we found it.”

Team Casa Hogar was the top winner this year. The 10 anglers and crew were fishing on behalf of the local non-profit organization that provides food, shelter and education to under-privileged Los Cabos boys. Angler Omar Castaneda scored the win after landing the biggest qualifying fish of the tournament, a 385-pound blue marlin. That fish took the overall team prize, tournament jackpot, top captain award (Capt. Ernie Cossio) and the Day Two $500 Daily Jackpot. The team is donating the $258,325 winnings to Casa Hogar.

In typical Black & Blue fashion, Sporty Game, entered across the board in all daily jackpot categories, waited until the final day to bring in the million-dollar fish. Carlos Cervontes whipped the 337-pound blue marlin in 18 minutes. That catch earned owner/captain Dan Lewis and the team a whooping payout of $1.682 million for second place in all team awards and the dailies. Lewis has been fishing the B&B since 2000. Sporty Game’s catch this year represents the 12th time a team has earned more than one million dollars in the tournament’s 34-year history.

Angler Dennis Bartos and Team Survivor are not going home empty-handed. Their blue marlin, tipping the scales at 328 pounds, earned a check for $42,187 for third place. Rounding out the top five, Baja Banditos pocketed $11,250 for a 320-pound blue, while Tepeyacos took fifth with a 304-pounder, good for $7,500.

In the tightly-contested Release Division, Mobius took top honors and the most money—$49,725—by releasing the first marlin based on time. Suzuka A, one of several teams from Japan, was second ($17,212) and Los Tapatios took third place and a check for $9,562. For the week, the 912 anglers from multiple countries caught 60 blue and six black marlin.

The Black & Blue slogan is “Come for fun, leave a millionaire.” After the 2014 event, however, adding: “And Make a Difference” is certainly an appropriate exclamation point.

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2014 Los Cabos Bisbee´s Black and Blue Marlin Tournament 

Cabo San Lucas is one of the prime spots in the world where anglers can consistently catch the two largest species of marlin, blues and blacks. There are differences between the two, however, and that calls for different tactics.

Blacks tend to hang around reefs and structure with large concentrations of bait. So the underwater mounts off the tip of the Baja peninsula like Gordo Bank and Jaime Bank are prime places to bridle a live skipjack or yellowfin tuna and slowly bump the boat in and out of gear until a marlin spots it and decides to eat.

Blues, on the other hand, are open water predators that roam rips, currents and weed lines in search of food like dorado and squid. Boats targeting blue marlin often use lures so they can troll faster to cover more water to maximize the presentation.

So far, lures have had the edge in the 2014 Black & Blue. The qualifying fish—all blues—have been fooled by lures. Locally-made, Hi-5 Lures have been consistent Bisbee’s winners over the years.

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Bisbee’s Black & Blue Marlin Tournament 

Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. México

The idea of conducting small tournaments came about in 1982 in conjunction with the pioneers of the hospitality industry here in Los Cabos. Today, the tournament has grown from six teams and a prize of $10,000 dollars to more than 150 teams competing for millions of dollars. In 2006, the cash jackpot was the biggest prize in the history of sport fishing.
This year Team count is 127 The 908 anglers representing several countries are in search of a big marlin and a share of more than $2.1 million in prize money!!

En el año de 1982, surge la idea de realizar pequeños torneos en conjunto con los pioneros en la industria de la hotelería. El torneo que inicio con seis equipos y una bolsa de $10,000 dólares, ahora ha rebasado los 150 equipos inscritos con un bolsa de millones de dólares. En el 2006, se registró el mayor premio en efectivo en la historia de la pesca deportiva.

Este año se inscribieron 127 equipos con 908 pescadores  de varios países, los premios en efectivo superan los 2 millones de dólares.

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