Concert-goers typically don’t get too worked up over the opening act. The band is often unknown or hasn’t had as many hits as the headliner. But many times those opening performers put on a great show and the attendees get an added bonus of quality music.
The Bisbee’s Los Cabos Offshore has long been viewed as the opening act for the more prestigious Black & Blue, one of the most iconic events in the sport. Teams used it to scout, fine-tune the crew and get ready. The situation has changed. The LCO is now a multi-million-dollar event in its own right. It also features two game fish divisions for yellowfin tuna and dorado, which draws a different set of contestants. For the 2026 edition, the LCO has 122 teams competing and an overall purse of $2.394 million.
Teams enter and compete for base level payouts, but optional jackpots are available. The prime focus is weighed blue or black marlin with a 300-pound minimum qualifying weight. Striped marlin, sailfish, spearfish earn catch and release points only. The minimum weights for tuna and dorado are 40 and 30 pounds, respectively.
Daily billfish jackpots are at $500, $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 and $20,000 levels. If there are no daily qualifiers, the jackpot roll over to the next day. The daily release jackpots are $2,000 to enter. To get into either game fish jackpot requires an additional $1,000 entry fee.
The teams fish from 7 am to 5 pm Wednesday through Friday after a flare start. The allowable zone is 50 nautical miles radius from Cabo San Lucas. That allows teams to fish either the Pacific Ocean or Sea of Cortez, where underwater banks and mounts concentrate bait and attract the target species. But it’s not unusual for a qualifying fish to be caught within sight of the famed rocky arch guarding the entrance to the Cabo harbor, the water depths drop off so quickly.
The leaderboard is already filling up as the teams log entries on Wednesday, the first day of fishing. One team has reported boating a marlin, although there is no estimate of size yet.
