Ever since Los Cabos Offshore and the Black & Blue became October fixtures in Cabo San Lucas, Bisbee's October has been a weigh-in story, with the marina crowding around the scale. In 2026 the scale is still in front of Puerto Paraíso Mall, still open from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. on fishing days. Most of the rest has moved. Both awards nights are at The Place at Cabo on the malecón. The children's tournament makes kids release a fish before they can weigh one. A new November tournament in Bahía Magdalena has no scale at all.
So October in Cabo San Lucas now has two centers. Afternoons belong to the scale. Evenings, and the next generation of anglers, belong to the docks a short walk down the malecón.
The Two Weeks, Laid Out
The official Bisbee's schedules settle a date question some local coverage got wrong. Los Cabos Offshore runs October 12 to 17. Monday, October 12 is pre-registration only, which is why some outlets list the event as starting October 13.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 12, 3:00–6:00 p.m. | Los Cabos Offshore pre-registration | Puerto Paraíso Mall, near the weigh station |
| Tue, Oct 13, 3:00–7:00 p.m. | Registration, then 7:00 p.m. captains' meeting | Puerto Paraíso Mall, stage beside the scale |
| Wed–Fri, Oct 14–16 | Fishing days; scale open 2:00–9:00 p.m. | In front of Puerto Paraíso Mall |
| Sat, Oct 17, 6:00 p.m. | Los Cabos Offshore awards | La Antojería Cabo, The Place at Cabo, between H and I docks |
| Mon, Oct 19 | Bisbee's Baja Cantina Kids tournament day | Cabo San Lucas |
| Tue, Oct 20, 3:00–7:00 p.m. | Black & Blue registration; 7:00 p.m. captains' meeting; 7:30 p.m. opening ceremonies | Puerto Paraíso Mall |
| Wed–Fri, Oct 21–23 | Fishing days; scale open 2:00–9:00 p.m. | In front of Puerto Paraíso Mall |
| Sat, Oct 24, 6:00 p.m. | Black & Blue awards | The Place at Cabo, in front of H, I and J docks |
Both weeks follow the same pattern. Registration and the captains' meeting take place at the mall. Three fishing days build toward the scale each afternoon. Then the Saturday crowd moves down the waterfront for awards. The Los Cabos Tourism Board calls the first tournament "Little Bisbee's" and the second the "Super Bowl of Fishing."
The Scale Is Still the Main Event
Puerto Paraíso is where the tournament happens in public. On each of the six fishing days, the weigh station in front of the mall opens at 2:00 p.m. and closes at 9:00 p.m. Under the rules, any boat inside the harbor entrance by 9:00 p.m. can still weigh. Lines must be out of the water by 5:00 p.m., so the busiest window at the scale tends to fall after the boats turn for home. Late boats can push it toward the deadline.
Last October, a Cabo Sun spectator guide described the Puerto Paraíso weigh-ins as free and festival-like. The 2026 schedules don't mention admission for the scale area, the opening ceremonies, or either awards night. Treat last year's open-scale experience as precedent, not a promise.
The stage beside the scale gets one more use on Tuesday, October 20. After the 7:00 p.m. Black & Blue captains' meeting, opening ceremonies begin at 7:30 p.m. with flag honors and live music. It is the one evening of the season when the mall end of the marina hosts a ceremony.
Saturday Nights Belong to The Place at Cabo
The Los Cabos Offshore awards celebration on October 17 is at La Antojería Cabo. The official schedule calls it Baja Cantina's new restaurant, at The Place at Cabo on the malecón between H and I docks. A week later, the Black & Blue awards are at The Place at Cabo again, this time in front of H, I and J docks.
Baja Cantina's name runs through the season. Bisbee's presented its 2026 season at Baja Cantina restaurant, the children's tournament is Bisbee's Baja Cantina Kids, and the first awards night is at the new Baja Cantina restaurant. The Place at Cabo has also hosted several of Bisbee's children's sportfishing clinics. In August, Gringo Gazette reported a clinic at the marina with The Place at Cabo providing the space. Organizers said they planned to run one clinic a month. No fall clinic dates had been published as of early October.
Kids Release Before They Weigh
The clearest sign of the shift is the children's event. Bisbee's Baja Cantina Kids is capped at 100 participants. Each child must show video proof of releasing one species before bringing an eligible fish to the scale. A tournament calendar citing FONMAR, the state fishing fund, lists a youth program from October 16 to 18 and tournament day on Monday, October 19, in Cabo San Lucas. No specific dock or venue had been published for it yet.
The clinics follow the same idea. Kids learn to tie knots and cast, along with species identification, safety, and why releasing a fish matters. Project director Idania Salmón told Gringo Gazette the clinics move children from theory into practice early enough that conservation becomes part of how they understand fishing from the start.
Catch-and-release categories have been part of Bisbee's for years. The 2026 youth format puts a release ahead of any weigh-in.
November Has No Scale at All
Mag Bay Mania takes the idea all the way. Bisbee's first tournament in Bahía Magdalena runs November 1 to 30, 2026, and it is fully virtual. The format, as Gringo Gazette described it:
- Billfish catch-and-release only
- Teams choose any three November days to fish, and they don't need to fish on the same dates
- No weigh station
- Every release documented on video with geolocation data confirming species, team, time and place
Organizers picked Bahía Magdalena for its seasonal billfish, especially striped marlin. That makes it a natural place to test a format this different.
For anyone in Cabo San Lucas, this is the first Bisbee's event that won't fill the marina. It spreads across a month in Bahía Magdalena, with no stage and no scale for a crowd to gather around.
Why the Shape Is Changing Now
The change in format reflects a change in leadership. The first Bisbee's tournament ran May 6 to 11, 1982, in Cabo San Lucas. A second followed months later, and over time Los Cabos Offshore and the Black & Blue became October fixtures. Wayne Bisbee still leads the tournaments, now alongside his children, Blake and Jordyn Bisbee. Gringo Gazette credits the two with pushing new technology and new formats.
In 2026 the organization also ran its first tournament in Costa Rica. At the season presentation, organizers named other international destinations as possibilities. Costa Rica's sportfishing industry has made billfish release central to both conservation and the visitor experience. Gringo Gazette's reading is that Bisbee's appears to be following that model while keeping the traditions that built its name in Baja California Sur.
None of this has moved October out of Cabo San Lucas. At the same presentation, Municipal Tourism Director Ana Gabriela Navarro described the tournaments as history and culture, part of who Los Cabos is. Organizers also mentioned early interest from representatives in Japan about bringing anglers to the Los Cabos events.
What the Two Weeks Mean on the Waterfront
Bisbee's weeks have always reached beyond the docks. In August, Gringo Gazette reported that the city was coordinating with organizers on traffic management, public safety and permits. It named hotels, sportfishing charters, fuel docks, tackle shops and waterfront restaurants as the businesses that see the uptick. The municipal government's own release lists hotels, restaurants, transportation, retail and tourism services as beneficiaries. No specific street closures or harbor restrictions had been announced as of early October.
For planning, the useful pattern is the split across the marina. On the six fishing days, from October 14 to 16 and October 21 to 23, the crowds gather in front of Puerto Paraíso from mid-afternoon until 9:00 p.m. On the two Saturdays, October 17 and 24, the evening crowd moves to The Place at Cabo around H, I and J docks starting at 6:00 p.m. Monday, October 19, sits between the two tournaments and is the kids' tournament day. Then November 1 opens a month-long event that a resident following along will see mostly as video uploads from Mag Bay.
The full, official schedules are posted for Los Cabos Offshore and the Black & Blue, and Gringo Gazette's report from the season presentation covers the Mag Bay Mania format in more detail.
The marina's busiest weeks show how closely Cabo San Lucas life is tied to the water. At Luis Mendoza & Associates, we follow that calendar with the same attention we give to properties, in both English and Spanish. If the Bisbee's season has you thinking about time on the waterfront in Los Cabos, contact us and we'll talk through it with you.
