The typical summer billfish mix in the Sea of Cortez features blue marlin and some resident stripers. Sailfish are not unusual, but this season is seeing more than normal. The twist so far in the 2026 East Cape Offshore is the number of black marlin present on the full moon cycle. In fact, all three top marlin on the leaderboard are blacks. Angler Lukas Huberman, Capt. Vicente Bojórquez and the team on Sneak Attack, a 65 American Custom Yacht, vaulted into first place with a 488-pound entry on Thursday.
“It was an incredible fight of 10 minutes,” Huberman explained. “It ate a live bait and came right towards the boat. We stuck a gaff in the tail while it was green and it took off. It was a rodeo for about five minutes but we got the fish aboard.” The fish was landed on a Shimano Tiagra combo with 100-pound main line and 400-pound leader. Huberman has been fishing the ECO for a decade.
“We were in Grid H-8 in 500 feet of water fishing over structure,” added Capt. Bojórquez. “There wasn’t much bait but we saw a few tunas up to 60 pounds jumping so we decided to stay in that location. The water temperature was hot, 86 degrees. We had 12 sharks before we caught the marlin but fortunately it didn’t get bit.”
Andrew Anderson, competing with Team Bend Bandits, weighed a blue marlin at 363 pounds that was good for third place—for a couple hours. But Sea Angel made a surprise appearance after dark. Austin Angel and his team fishing on a 42 Freeman made it to the scales shortly before 9 pm. Their 366-pound black marlin was good enough by three pounds for final spot on the daily leaderboard.
“We thought it was about 100 pounds heavier,” Angel said. “It was a four-hour fight. We didn’t see the fish but it ate a live bonito off the down-rigger marked 60 feet down on sonar. We finally boated it and ran 50 knots back in the dark to make it in time.”
The tuna standings flipped on Thursday as well. Brent Coon was the first to the scales with a yellowfin registering 176.1 pounds. Coon was fishing on Aferrado, a Cabo sport fisher run by Capt. Roberto Castro.
“We were on the Gordo Bank and chummed for bonito early and that’s what the tuna ate. It was caught on a Shimano Tiara 80 and the fight took about 90 minutes. It was like reeling a refrigerator off the bottom, up and down, up and down,” Coon said after the weight was announced. Another entry right afterwards would knock it off the daily perch, however.
“If nothing else, we were winning for awhile,” Coon said with a laugh. “There’s always tomorrow.”
That next fish was Stella June’s, a 46 Jarrett Bay based in Cabo San Lucas. Capt. Evan Salvay and angler Francisco Ruiz boated the 192-pound yellowfin after a battle lasting about 25 minutes. It was fooled by a live bait and whipped on 130-class tackle.
“We were fishing a good area,” Salvay said. “There were a few boats nearby but it was pretty quiet. It was a nice day, a light chop and a little overcast. We were fortunate to not have any sharks around during the fight but it’s been a very sharky week. We’re happy with our day and see how it goes tomorrow.”
Luis Zumaeta and Team Reel Talent 250 came up short with their 70.7-pound tuna on Thursday. But Zumaeta did score the top dorado for the day.
“That was quite a gift, as there are not a lot of dorado around,” Zumaeta said. “So it was nice to see one come up in the spread. We were trolling for marlin and I saw the dorado flash on the Witch Doctor lure. I pitched a live bait with a circle hook to it on a 25-pound rig and it was a nice fight.” That catch tipped the scales at 36.6 pounds for the top daily.
Estrella Kahe continues to lead the Release Division with 600 points. The team released two more blue marlin on Thursday. Retriever is in second place in the division going into the final day.
The full moon is starting to wane although the black marlin may not have gotten the memo. Friday could stay dark with fixed pectoral fins or it may turn a shade of iridescent blue. Quien sabe—who knows?
Photos by Capt. Dan Jacobs, Bob Busby and Capt. Dave Lear
