One of the signature moments of each Bisbee’s awards ceremonies is a raucous fireworks show after all the checks are distributed. But instead of flares, starbursts and rockets, finny fireworks blasted Friday as the last day of fishing concluded in the 2026 Los Cabos Offshore. The leads in both the weighed marlin and tuna categories changed several times as entries were carted to the scales at the Puerto Paraiso Mall in downtown Cabo. In the end, mere pounds would separate the winners yet those differences would have huge consequences.
“We saw good water Thursday afternoon and I looked at a water report last night,” said Capt. Ed McLintok, skipper for Team Loose Crew. “We went back there today to troll and started seeing porpoise. The marlin came up and ate a Black Bart Abacos Prowler lure off the long corner. It didn’t show until it got into the backing. After 30 minutes we saw color, it saw the boat and took back off. We got it close again and the mate gaffed it and the fish almost pulled him overboard. We finally got it boated.”
Angler Edgar Gomez Ojeda and the team were fishing right out in front of Cabo aboard a 41 Luhrs convertible based in San Jose.
“It was a band-aid crew, but everyone worked great together. It was flawless,” McLintok added. With an approaching storm, the team decided to run in, confident in their prize. Their blue would weigh 347 pounds.
Team Tiki Perro Pescador was also trolling back in from Marker 1150 Friday afternoon when a marlin jumped on a lure without warning. A couple team mates cranked on the fish before boat co-owner John “JR” Russell finished the task.
“We were by ourselves, heading in when it hit,” Russell said. “It never jumped or left the water all the way to the boat. We caught it on a used lure we bought earlier from a Cabo tackle dealer who refurbishes old lures. It was beat up and ugly—black, red and yellow—but it turned out to be a good choice. It was a helluva team effort getting that fish and I’m still not sure I really realize what happened.” Russell’s boat, the Tiki Magnetic, is a 48 Ocean based in Cabo. Russell lives in Austin, Texas and this is his first time fishing in the LCO. When the blue’s weight was announced to the huge crowd of on-lookers it vaulted atop the leaderboard at 350 pounds, topping Loose Crew’s by three pounds.
TRUE GRIT, a 66 Hines Farley run by Capt. Pablo Pino, was the top release boat on Friday. The team scored a black marlin and two stripers for a combined 350 points to take the daily jackpot. Team No Limits Fishing (Capt. Jeff Villarreal) was second with 300 points, followed by Big Oh (63 Ricky Scarborough) with 175. The final day tally for the 122 boats competing included that one black, five blues, 25 sailfish and 43 striped marlin.
No dorado were weighed on Friday, but the slate of hefty yellowfin tuna kept the crowd buzzing. For the daily jackpot winners, Daniel Miranda, fishing with Team North Star Pro, weighed a 251-pound fish. Team North Star and angler Juan Guillermo Peralta was second in the jackpot division with a 234-pound entry. Monica Lopez, fishing with Team Pelanas, scored a 91-pound tuna.
In an unfortunate twist, the largest tuna of the week, a 259-pounder caught by Mac Owens, was not in the money. Caliente, a 61 Viking run by Capt. Keith Banks, was entered in marlin jackpots but not the tuna jackpot.
The real pyrotechnics are still to come after Saturday’s awards ceremony, when nearly $2.4 million in prize money will be handed out. For a few teams, though, the real glitz and bang came early.
Photos courtesy of Sebastian Harris and Capt. Dan Jacob
