Your Guide to Fall Fishing Tournaments in Los Cabos and Mazatlán

Fall arrives in Los Cabos and Mazatlán the way it always has, with the marina humming, tackle rooms restocked, and captains studying the water for that first big push of marlin. If you love the sport or simply love watching it unfold from a front-row seat on the malecón, the next few months bring one of the richest fishing calendars anywhere on the Pacific, and Pueblo Bonito guests are perfectly positioned to enjoy every minute of it.

The season kicks off in Los Cabos on October 7, with the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament running through October 11. Now in its 28th year, this event has earned its reputation as the unofficial opener of Cabo's billfish season. Teams compete for the largest marlin, the most releases, and top honors in dorado, tuna, and wahoo, with an international fleet converging on the marina for a week. It's the kind of event where the competition is serious but the atmosphere stays festive, and it sets the tone for everything that follows.

Just days later, from October 12 through 17, the fleet barely has time to catch its breath before Bisbee's Los Cabos Offshore Tournament takes over. Known affectionately as "Little Bisbee's," this tournament has grown from a friendly warm-up into a multimillion-dollar event in its own right, drawing anglers who want a taste of the competition before the main event without the steeper entry fees.

That main event arrives October 19 through 24, when Bisbee's Black & Blue returns to Cabo San Lucas. Often called the Super Bowl of Fishing, it is the richest sportfishing tournament on the planet, with purses that have topped eleven million dollars. Registration night, the captains' meeting, and the opening ceremonies at Puerto Paraíso Mall are worth experiencing even if you're not fishing, and the weigh station afternoons turn the marina into one of the liveliest spectator scenes in Los Cabos. Watching a boat come in with a potential winner on the line, and the crowd that gathers to see it hoisted onto the scale, is pure Cabo theater.

The season wraps up with the Cabo Tuna Jackpot, the highest paying tuna tournament in the world since 1999. The event takes place November 4 though 7, with two full days of fishing. Target yellowfin tuna, dorado and wahoo round out the jackpot categories, and the payouts routinely climb past a million dollars.

Mazatlán sees the same fall shift, with marlin, dorado, and tuna moving in close along the Sinaloa coast just as the weather turns ideal for tournament season. Fleets like Flota Bibi, fishing these waters since 1946, have long made the city a serious sportfishing destination in its own right, and autumn is when that reputation is on full display, from the boats heading out at dawn to the catch coming in at the marina each afternoon.

From the marina at Puerto Paraíso to the docks along the Sinaloa coast, tournament season brings an unmistakable energy to both destinations. Stay at any Pueblo Bonito resort in Los Cabos or Mazatlán this fall and make the excitement part of your getaway, whether you’re heading to the marina to watch the weigh-ins, chartering a boat for your own day on the water, or simply soaking up the atmosphere as some of the world’s top anglers compete offshore.

Start planning your stay today!