Bisbee's Black & Blue 2026 Results: A First-Time Team's 491-lb Marlin Pays a Record $5.6 Million

For most of the fleet, the 2026 Bisbee's Black & Blue was a long, hot, quiet week. For one boat, it was the best day they've ever had on the water. A team fishing the tournament for the first time, Contango Spartan's Revenge, weighed a 491-pound blue marlin on Day One. Nobody beat it. When the jackpots were added up at Saturday's awards banquet in Cabo San Lucas, that single fish was worth $5,629,300, the largest payout for one fish in the tournament's 46-year history.

Here's how it happened, what that number really means, and why this year's water had everyone talking.

The fish: a first-timer's Day One

Team leader George Kypreos, from Las Vegas, had never fished the Black & Blue before. Bisbee's says he did his homework, and what started as a plan for him and his girlfriend grew into a full crew: angler Kevin Miranda, Capt. Jeff Villarroel at the helm of a 60 Viking Convertible, and teammates Gary Gilmore, Aaron Taylor, Adriana Watson, Jessica Watson, Miguel Contreras and Kenneth Pymm.

The morning was slow. "We hadn't had a bite up until 1 pm and everyone was bummed," Kypreos told Bisbee's. Then, mid-afternoon, a blue marlin ate an Andy Moyes lure outside the Gordo Bank. Miranda was on an 80-pound trolling outfit, and the fight went on for more than two hours. At the scale, the weight came in at 491 pounds.

That fish was the first qualifying marlin of the whole tournament. By Friday, it was also the only one. In the Black & Blue a weighed marlin has to reach 300 pounds to count, and no other team brought one to the scale that cleared the line. "It's been incredible and insane," Kypreos said before the awards.

How one marlin turned into $5,629,300

After Day One, Bisbee's reported the catch was worth about $1.9 million, because the team had entered most of the daily jackpots. That number kept growing as the week went on and nobody else qualified. With the optional jackpots the team had entered, the final payout came to $5,629,300.

That's what makes the Black & Blue different from most fishing events. What a fish pays depends on which optional jackpots its team chose to enter, so a team that buys into more of them stands to win far more from the same fish. So one blue marlin, on the right day, with the right entries, can be life-changing money. If you want the full scoring breakdown, our guide on why a marlin is worth 300 points walks through it in plain words.

The rest of the fleet wasn't shut out. Bisbee's reports that the 175 teams caught 38 marlin and released 34 of them, and several boats took home six-figure release prizes.

A hot, slow year on the water

If you followed the tournament, you heard the same thing from almost every boat: the water was hot and the marlin were hard to find. Martha McNab, a former Black & Blue champion, told Bisbee's she saw 90 to 91 degrees outside Gordo on the first day and 92.1 up by Frailes the next. Even on the last day, when it cooled a little, she still saw 86 to 87. "It was just unbelievably slow," she said.

Tournament Director Wayne Bisbee put it simply: "El Niño certainly did a number on us, fishing-wise." That's a story about this year's tournament week, not a forecast. Water in Cabo changes from week to week, and the boats out this October fished what this October gave them.

Fishing Cabo without a tournament

You don't need a tournament entry, or a jackpot budget, to chase marlin here. Fall is still one of our favorite times to fish. In our fishing notes, blue marlin run June through December, yellowfin tuna May through November, and wahoo start showing up in October. Striped marlin, Cabo's everyday billfish, pick up from November.

The easiest place to start is our Cabo fishing charters page, where you can compare boats side by side. If you want to know what a day out costs before you pick one, read what a Cabo fishing charter costs. Want to go straight for billfish? Browse our marlin fishing charters, or the tuna charters if you'd rather bring dinner home.

Bringing the whole crew

Not everyone in your group wants to be on a fishing boat at sunrise. That's fine. While the anglers are out, the rest of the crew can take a private yacht out for the day or for sunset, and everyone meets back up for dinner.

Coming for tournament week next year? A villa makes it easy to keep the whole team under one roof, with room for early starts and late weigh-in nights. Browse Cabo villas or our pick of the best villas for large groups. And if you want the dates, the weigh station and how to watch, our Bisbee's Black & Blue guide covers it.

FAQ

Who won Bisbee's Black & Blue 2026?

Contango Spartan's Revenge, a first-time team led by George Kypreos with angler Kevin Miranda and Capt. Jeff Villarroel. They won with a 491-pound blue marlin weighed on Day One, the only qualifying marlin of the tournament.

How much did the 2026 Black & Blue winners get paid?

$5,629,300 for the one fish. Bisbee's says it's the largest payout for a single fish in the tournament's 46-year history.

Why was the payout so big with only one fish?

What a fish pays depends on the optional jackpots its team entered. This team had entered most of the daily jackpots, and no other boat weighed a qualifying marlin, so that single blue collected the money.

Was the fishing slow in 2026?

Yes, for this year's tournament. Anglers reported water in the high 80s and low 90s, and Bisbee's reported 38 marlin caught by 175 teams. Conditions change every year, so one slow October tells you about that week, not about the next one.

Key takeaways

• Contango Spartan's Revenge, a first-time team, won the 2026 Bisbee's Black & Blue with a 491-pound blue marlin caught on Day One.
• The fish paid $5,629,300, the largest single-fish payout in the tournament's 46-year history.
• It was the only qualifying marlin of the tournament, and the team had entered most of the daily jackpots.
• This year's fishing was slow, with very warm water reported and 38 marlin caught across 175 teams.
• You can fish Cabo in the fall without a tournament: blue marlin and yellowfin tuna are still in season.

Sources: Bisbee's recaps on bisbees.com, read on Oct 26, 2026: Record Catch (Oct 25, 2026), Freaky Friday (Oct 24, 2026) and Beginner's Luck (Oct 22, 2026). Also reported by Coastal Angler Magazine (Oct 26, 2026).