Bounded by the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Gulf of California on the other, the Baja California peninsula has traditionally been a major source of commercial fishing, producing nearly half of all seafood harvested in Mexico as recently as a decade ago.
Since the dawn of the age of tourism in the 1950s, however, many peninsular destinations have increasingly focused on sport fishing, and its competitive offshoot: fishing tournaments. Bisbee’s Black and Blue in Cabo San Lucas is the most famous of these — not only because it was one of the first notable examples, dating to 1982, but because of its enormous prize pools, which by 2022, set a record in excess of US $11 million.
That tournament takes place annually in October, but the fishing season properly begins during the summer months, with an array of tournaments — from big-money competitions to single-day events that give away cars to anglers who catch the biggest fish — held around the peninsula, from Tijuana to Los Cabos. Here’s a look at some of the most notable for summer 2026:
The Pelagic-sponsored Cabo Triple Crown of Fishing annually kicks off fishing season in Los Cabos, with teams accruing points for reeling in not only billfish like marlin, sailfish and spearfish, but also gamefish species such as tuna, dorado and wahoo. Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore, the first of Bisbee’s annual trio of fishing events in the municipality, beginning in late July, is the most lucrative summer event on the peninsula, with a prize pool of over US $1.5 million. However, the Cabo Triple Crown of Fishing’s purse — US $300,000 in 2025 — is certainly respectable and draws a very competitive field of anglers.
Dates: June 11-14
Location: Cabo San Lucas
Cost: US $3,000 base entry per team; US $31,000 all-in for jackpots and challenges
The state-sponsored Torneo 2 Mares premiered in 2024, under the aegis of Baja California’s Secretaría de Pesca y Acuacultura (Sepesca), with the goal being not only to showcase the bounty of both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California (or Sea of Cortés), but also to highlight the talents of regional fishermen, women and children. The host sites rotate, with this year’s two tournaments to be held in San Felipe and San Quintín, and boast a combined prize pool of one million pesos.
Dates: June 12-13
Location: San Felipe, Baja California
Cost: 6,000 pesos per team; jackpots up to 15,000 pesos
Since 2023, Sepesca has also sponsored this women’s and girls-only tournament designed to identify the “Queens of the Sea.” As with the 2 Mares tournaments, teams earn points for catching what are listed as “surface” and “bottom” species, which, in the former category, include yellowtail, bonito and corvina, and in the latter encompass cabrilla, whitefish, calico bass and more. Winners are thus those with the most versatile skill set across different rods, line weights and lures.
Date: July 17-18
Location: Ensenada, Baja California
Cost: 2,000 pesos per team
Although summer East Cape fishing tournament havens Los Barriles and Buenavista are only a few kilometers distant from one another, the former falls within the boundaries of La Paz municipality, while the latter is in Los Cabos. Not that it matters to the quality of fishing or the prize pools, since the combined cash and prizes in this single-day event, for example, top half a million dollars. The big prize is the brand new Toyota Hilux pickup truck, which goes to whoever catches the largest dorado, a delicious gamefish better known in other parts of the continent as dolphinfish or mahi mahi.
Date: July 18
Location: Los Barriles, East Cape, La Paz municipality
Cost: US $800 base entry; jackpots up to US $2,000
These days, the traditional “fishing widow” is increasingly a “fishing widower,” given there are now dedicated ladies’ only fishing tournaments in both Baja California and Baja California Sur. The southern version is held annually in Los Barriles at what’s the town’s best hotel and its best sport fishing operation: the Hotel Palmas de Cortez. The largest tuna and dorado reeled in determine the winners at this one-day team tournament (July 24 is set aside for registration and check-ins, with fishing on July 25).
Date: July 24-25
Location: Hotel Palmas de Cortez, Los Barriles, East Cape, La Paz
Cost: US $400 per team; jackpots up to US $500
Last year, prize pools at Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore, or ECO, were US $1.52 million. So, although four annual tournaments in Los Cabos top the million mark in purses, this is the only one to take place during the summer months. Gamefish are awarded here, but blue and black marlin traditionally earn the most points and lead to the biggest over-sized checks at the tourney’s end.
Last year’s biggest check, for instance, was handed out to Team Reel’n and Deal’n for US $559,780 for a 404-pound black marlin, although Team Zorah actually boated what would have been an ECO record 773-pound black marlin. But the hours-long fight to reel in the massive fish prevented them from making it to the scales on time.
Dates: July 28-Aug. 1
Location: Buena Vista Beach Resort, Buenavista, East Cape, Los Cabos
Cost: US $1,500 base entry; US $36,000 all-in
The second event of this year’s 2 Mares tournament will be held in San Quintín, a town of under 5,000 residents located about 200 kilometers south of Ensenada. Although the rules are the same as the previous competition, the fish caught will vary since this one’s on the Pacific side, while the June tournament in San Felipe was on the Sea of Cortés.
Dates: August 21-22
Location: San Quintín, Baja California
Cost: 6,000 pesos per team; jackpots up to 15,000 pesos
Like the Dorado Shoot Out in Los Barriles, the annual Tuna and Wahoo Shoot Out is a one-day team event. Not much information has been released on the 2026 tournament as yet, other than the expected cash and prize pool (listed at US $250,000), so stay tuned for updates, since a brand-new car or truck is traditionally among the prizes. Last year’s winning team, for example, drove away in a fully loaded 4×4 Volkswagen Amarok pickup truck.
Date: Sept. 19
Location: Los Barriles, East Cape, La Paz
Cost: US $600 per team; jackpots up to US $2,000
Chris Sands is a writer and editor for Mexico News Daily, and the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He has also contributed to numerous other websites and publications, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise and Travel, and Cabo Living.
