Bisbee's Black & BlueMarine Weather — Cabo San Lucas
The Bisbee's Black & Blue 2026 (Oct 19–24, 2026) is fishing out of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Here are the live inshore, midshore, and canyon conditions for the run — refreshed every morning.
Tournament Location
Inshore at Land's End, midshore over Golden Gate Bank, offshore at San Jaime Bank — the fleet fishes a wide band of water from the marina out to the Pacific banks, so this page reads all three zones separately rather than giving one coastwide number. The live day-by-day GO / CAUTION / NO-GO cards are up top; here is the context and the latest one-line outlook for each.
San Jaime Bank
OffshoreWhere the tournament is decided — San Jaime Bank. Pan and zoom the chart, and switch layers to read the water.
Cabo San Lucas
22.870, -109.900
The marina at Land's End, where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez — every tournament day launches here.
Light winds and moderate swell all three days
Winds stay light at 8 knots or less from the NNW to W, with gusts only reaching 15 knots in the afternoons. A 3-4 foot southwest swell at 12-13 second periods is well organized and comfortable. Visibility is 10 nm and rain chances are 0%, so a 12-hour trip works any time on all three days.
Cabo San Lucas — Sunday, Nov 15 · GO
Favorable conditions all day, so a 12-hour trip works any time. Winds stay light at 2-6 knots, starting NNW overnight, shifting east then south-southeast by mid afternoon (peak 6 knots, gusts 13-14 knots around 2:00 PM) and settling to WNW and NW by evening. Seas are a steady 4 feet at 13-second periods from the southwest, long and organized. Visibility is 10 nm with no rain expected, and model confidence is high at 85%.
Cabo San Lucas — Monday, Nov 16 · GO
Another favorable day, so any time works for a 12-hour trip. Winds are 3-6 knots, from the NNW to north in the morning, backing around through east to southeast by early afternoon, where gusts reach about 15 knots around 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, then fading to 3-4 knots from the southwest and west by evening. Seas ease from 4.1 feet to about 3.4 feet at 12-13 second periods from the southwest, comfortable and well organized. The calmest stretch is 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Gust forecasts vary a bit between models, with confidence 81%.
Cabo San Lucas — Tuesday, Nov 17 · GO
Good boating all day, so a 12-hour trip works at any time. Winds are very light, mostly 1-4 knots from the northwest overnight and morning, then building to 6-8 knots from the south-southeast and south by afternoon (peak 8 knots at 2:00 PM, gusts 15 knots) before easing back to 4 knots from the west and northwest by evening. Seas stay around 3.2-3.3 feet at 12-second periods from the southwest, the gentlest of the three days. Visibility is 10 nm and the forecast is dry, with confidence at 82%.
Golden Gate Bank
22.980, -110.180
A seamount rising from the Tinaje Trough about 17 nautical miles west-northwest; upwelling stacks bait and holds blue marlin and tuna on the run out.
NO-GO: large 9 ft west-northwest swell all three days
Winds are light at 6 knots or less all three days, but the sea state rules out boating. Large 8-10 foot west-northwest swell at 13-15 second periods is rated bad for waves every hour of the forecast, and there is no settled stretch long enough for a 12-hour trip. Forecast confidence drops from 67% Sunday to 47% Tuesday, mostly from disagreement on wave height.
Golden Gate Bank — Sunday, Nov 15 · NO-GO
NO-GO for the day. Winds stay light at 6 knots or less, starting from the north and swinging to southwest around midday with gusts up to 16 knots in the early afternoon, then settling back to north-northeast in the evening. The problem is the sea state: west to west-northwest swell builds from 7.5 feet at 13-second periods early in the morning to about 9.6 feet at 15-second periods by late evening. Every hour is rated bad for waves, so there is no settled stretch long enough for a 12-hour trip and no time of day that works. Model agreement on wave height is poor, so the swell could differ from what is shown.
Golden Gate Bank — Monday, Nov 16 · NO-GO
NO-GO for the day. Winds remain light, mostly 3-6 knots from the north-northeast early, shifting to south and southwest by afternoon with gusts up to 17 knots around 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, then returning to north by evening. West-northwest swell stays large, easing from about 9.6 feet at 14-15 second periods around midnight to about 7 feet at 13 seconds late in the evening, but every hour is still rated bad for waves. No stretch is long enough for a 12-hour trip, so no time that day is an option. Forecast confidence is low at 55%, with models disagreeing on wave height all day.
Golden Gate Bank — Tuesday, Nov 17 · NO-GO
NO-GO for the day. Winds are light from the northeast and north-northeast through the morning, then turn west-southwest to west in the afternoon at up to 6 knots with gusts of 15-17 knots, easing by evening before backing to north at 6 knots with gusts near 11 knots late at night. West-northwest swell is the smallest of the three days at roughly 7 to 7.7 feet with 13-14 second periods, but it is still rated bad for waves in every hour. No stretch qualifies for a 12-hour trip, so no time is an option. Forecast confidence is low at 47%, with models strongly disagreeing on wave height, so conditions could turn out worse than shown.
San Jaime Bank
22.720, -110.220
The deep bluewater bank about 20 nautical miles west-southwest where the trophy blue and black marlin are won.
NO-GO: very large WNW swell makes seas dangerous
Winds are light all three days (generally under 11 knots), but a powerful west-northwest swell of 8 to 11 feet at 13 to 15 second periods keeps seas rated bad every hour. The wave field is the limiting factor and no settled stretch is long enough for a 12-hour trip on any day. Model agreement on wave height is poor (16-37% confidence), so actual seas could differ from the forecast.
San Jaime Bank — Sunday, Nov 15 · NO-GO
NO-GO all day. Winds are light to moderate, starting at 10-11 knots from the NNW with gusts to 15 knots and easing to 2-3 knots by mid-afternoon. The problem is a large WNW swell building from 8 feet at 13-second periods around midnight to over 10 feet at 15-second periods by evening, rated bad every hour. Even though the long period spreads the energy out, the sheer size makes open-water conditions dangerous for recreational vessels. There is no safe window for a 12-hour trip. Model confidence is moderate at 69%, with wave height the least certain parameter.
San Jaime Bank — Monday, Nov 16 · NO-GO
NO-GO all day. Winds are very light, mostly 3-6 knots shifting from NNW through NE, south and back to NW, with gusts to about 10 knots. The WNW swell peaks overnight near 10.7 feet at 15-second periods and slowly eases to around 8 feet at 13 seconds by late evening, but every hour is still rated bad for waves. There is no settled stretch suitable for a 12-hour trip, and calm winds do not offset the heavy swell. Model confidence is lowest this day at 62%, with wave height forecasts diverging widely, so treat even the easing trend cautiously.
San Jaime Bank — Tuesday, Nov 17 · NO-GO
NO-GO all day. Winds stay light, 2-5 knots from the west and west-northwest, then pick up to 9 knots from the NW with gusts to 13 knots late in the evening. The WNW swell is the smallest of the three days, around 7.6 feet at 13 seconds early and building back to 8.6 feet at 14 seconds, but it remains rated bad for waves every hour. There is no stretch long enough to run a 12-hour trip safely. Model agreement on wave height is poor at 29%, so conditions could shift from the forecast.
The AI fishing report for Cabo San Lucas
Weather tells you whether you can go. DeepCast reads the SST breaks, chlorophyll edges, and bottom structure for the exact waters the fleet fishes — inshore, midshore, and offshore — and turns them into a plain-English fishing report, the same AI reports built into the SeaLegs AI app.
Get the AI-powered fishing reportAbout Bisbee's Black & Blue
- DatesOct 19–24, 2026
- Host portCabo San Lucas, Mexico — the Cabo San Lucas Marina at Land's End
- The runCabo San Lucas out to the Pacific banks — Golden Gate (~17 nm WNW) and San Jaime (~20 nm WSW)
- Target speciesBlue & black marlin (the two jackpot species) — plus yellowfin tuna, dorado, and wahoo.
The Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin Jackpot is the richest marlin tournament in the world, run out of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Each October the fleet launches from the marina at Land's End — where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez — and runs the offshore banks chasing the two jackpot species, blue and black marlin.
Blue marlin dominate the winner's board — the event record is a 993-pounder, and the 2025 jackpot fell to a 459 lb blue. A big black marlin is the trophy bonus: real and eligible, as the 634 lb black that took 2024 proved, but far less predictable than the blues and not an everyday staple. Yellowfin tuna, dorado (mahi-mahi), and wahoo round out what's biting in October.
Because the fleet fishes a wide band of water — from Land's End out to the Golden Gate and San Jaime banks — this page reads conditions across three zones at once: inshore at the point, midshore over Golden Gate, and offshore at San Jaime. Each zone gets a plain GO, CAUTION, or NO-GO call, updated every morning from the latest marine model data — the same AI rating used in the SeaLegs AI app.
Making the run from Cabo out to the banks
The run out of Cabo is short by canyon-tournament standards — the productive banks sit roughly 17 to 20 nautical miles off Land's End — but it is open Pacific water. The same point where the Pacific swell wraps the cape can stand the sea up steep when wind runs against the current, which is why the three-zone read matters: a calm morning at the point says little about what San Jaime is doing by mid-afternoon.
Golden Gate Bank (about 17 nautical miles west-northwest) and San Jaime Bank (about 20 nautical miles west-southwest) are seamounts rising from the Tinaje Trough, where upwelling stacks bait — sardine, mackerel, and squid — and concentrates marlin, tuna, and dorado over the structure. Mid-to-late October is peak for Cabo's big blue and black marlin, with water in the upper-70s to low-80s °F, which is why Bisbee's runs its Black & Blue then. Weight swell period alongside height, plan the whole fishing day rather than just the departure, and always confirm the official marine forecast and warnings before you leave the dock — this page is a planning aid, not a substitute for them.
Bisbee's Black & Blue forecast FAQ
What are the marine conditions at Cabo San Lucas today?
As of Nov 15, 2026: Cabo San Lucas / Land's End — GO; Golden Gate Bank — NO-GO; San Jaime Bank — NO-GO. Every rating is rebuilt each morning from the latest marine model data.
When and where is Bisbee's Black & Blue?
Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin Jackpot runs out of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with the 2026 edition scheduled for October 19–24. The fleet launches from the marina at Land's End and fishes the offshore banks — principally Golden Gate, about 17 nautical miles west-northwest, and San Jaime, about 20 nautical miles west-southwest.
Which fish count in the Black & Blue?
The jackpot is a blue and black marlin tournament — those are the two eligible species. Blue marlin dominate the winners (the event record is 993 pounds), while a big black marlin is the trophy bonus: eligible, but far less predictable than the blues. Yellowfin tuna, dorado, and wahoo are also biting in October but are not jackpot species. (Striped marlin run the area too, but their peak is winter and spring and they are not a Black & Blue species.)
Why does Bisbee's run in October?
Mid-to-late October is the peak of Cabo's big blue and black marlin bite, when the water sits in the upper-70s to low-80s °F and the banks stack bait. That seasonal window is why the tournament is scheduled then.
How often is this forecast updated?
The three-zone board is rebuilt every morning from the latest marine model data, and each SpotCast card refreshes live in your browser. The date stamp above the outlook shows exactly when it was last generated.
What do GO, CAUTION, and NO-GO mean?
GO means conditions are favorable for most recreational offshore boats. CAUTION means marginal — manageable for experienced crews in capable vessels, but check the wind, swell period, and timing closely. NO-GO means conditions are hazardous for small craft and the trip is best postponed.
Can I get a forecast for my own bank numbers?
Yes. In the free SeaLegs AI app you can drop a pin on any spot on Earth — the Golden Gate, San Jaime, your own bank numbers, or the point at Land's End — and get the same AI-rated marine forecast and trip planning, rated GO / CAUTION / NO-GO.
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