Bisbee's Offshore Fishing Tournaments

The big winner of the Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore Tournament was Team Stella June with this solid 375-pound black marlin worth 1.28 million dollars in prize money.

Dock Totals 7/31 – 8/6: 4936 anglers aboard 227 half-day to 3-day trips out of San Diego landings this past week caught 124 barracuda, 1 black seabass (released), 917 bluefin tuna (to 207 pounds), 16 bocaccio, 45 bonito, 1248 calico bass, 4691 dorado, 1 halibut, 6 lingcod, 2 mako shark, 1065 rockfish, 102 sand bass, 42 sanddab, 59 sculpin, 47 sheephead, 1 thresher shark, 95 whitefish, 1 white seabass, 324 yellowfin tuna, and 15,760 yellowtail.

Saltwater: The ongoing yellowtail and dorado frenzy greeted anglers who made it out to the banks from the 9-Mile down the coast of Baja to about mid-peninsula. Bluefin tuna are still around our area and haven’t vacated the near-coastal high spots for the cooler offshore areas of Cortez and Tanner banks, while yellowfin tuna have been slowly creeping into the counts. It is almost odd to catch so many dorado while yellowfin remain sluggish, as both usually stick to similar conditions and run together, but with yellowtail picking up the slack, nobody is complaining. La Niña, albeit a weak one, has been good to the San Diego fleet thus far in 2022.

6894 dorado and 30,454 yellowtail have been caught by the full-day to 3-day fleet over the past two weeks, and though most of those caught were school-sized fish averaging maybe 10 pounds per dorado and 12 pounds per yellowtail, that’s still a lot of meat. Considering most of these fish were from Mexican waters and Mexican limits are 5 yellowtail and 2 dorado per angler per day, the counts could have been much higher if in US territory. The bag limit (total catch) in Mexico is ten fish, and no more than 5 of any one species.

Marlin, shark, grouper, bluefin tuna, and dorado all have lower limit numbers, with bluefin and dorado limit being two fish, and marlin, shark, and grouper limit at one fish. Any of the above species’ per-angler-per-day limit counts as five fish, so for example, five yellowtail and two dorado equals the total bag limit of ten fish for the day. In U.S. waters, an angler may keep up to ten yellowtail (five must be 24” fork length or longer) and ten dorado per day. Thus, many of the boats fishing in Mexican waters over the past couple weeks had to pull in lines and head home early due to catching limits. Once dedicated to fishing Mexican waters, Mexican limits apply for the duration of the trip, so no stopping when back in U.S. waters to add to the catch once Mexican limits are met.

Further down Baja at Buena Vista Resort, Bisbee’s East Cape Offshore Tournament was held this past week. Hot weather and great fishing are the usual highlights for the mid-summer event, and this year was no different. The billfish division was won by Team Stella June, with angler Hugo Pino landing a 375-pound Black Marlin, the only qualifying marlin of the tournament. The jackpot award for the fish was a whopping $1.28 million dollars.

A 43.1-pound yellowfin caught by Emanuel Bernal of Team Crudo took the heaviest tuna for the tournament, fetching a prize of $124,920, while Roberto Omar Garcia Formestic of Team Altamar grabbed $50,000 for an impressive 54.7-pound dorado. Other notables included a first-day 52.5-pound dorado caught by Gilbert Castro of Team Tiger Spirit worth $38,875. First place in the billfish release division went to Team Will To Win with 1,000 points earning them $50,830, while second and third places went to Team Suertudo with 900 points, and Team Freebird with 700 points for a total of $44,665 respectively. After 42 years, the Bisbee’s tournaments are still growing, with a record of $1,614,125 in prizes awarded to the 2022 tournament winners. Whether fishing for fun on the beach, for dinner from the boat, or for cash and prizes in an elite tournament, they're out there, so go get ‘em!

Notable catches this past week:

7/31 – The Liberty, out for a 2-day run with 22 anglers aboard, reported limits of 220 yellowtail along with 80 dorado caught.

8/1 – 10 anglers aboard the Outrider limited out with 50 yellowtail and 20 dorado caught while on a 1.5-day trip.

8/2 – The Excalibur called in with 270 yellowtail, 108 dorado, and 16 yellowfin tuna for 27 anglers aboard their 2.5-day trip.

8/4 – 20 anglers aboard the Pegasus for a 3-day trip enjoyed great mixed-bag fishing, with 124 yellowtail, 25 dorado, and 80 bluefin tuna caught.

8/5 – The Legend called in from their 2.5-day run with 29 anglers aboard and reported 186 yellowtail, 45 dorado, 28 bluefin tuna, and 3 yellowfin tuna in the hold.

8/6 – 19 anglers aboard a 3-day Pacific Voyager trip caught limits of 190 yellowtail and 38 dorado, along with 16 bluefin tuna and 14 yellowfin tuna. The Alicia 1.5-day run with 10 anglers produced 32 yellowtail and limits of 20 dorado.

Fish Plants: 8/12 – Santee Lakes, catfish (1,500), 8/15 – Lake Jennings, catfish (1,500)