This year, the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament celebrates its 20-year anniversary of promoting billfish catch and release and its support of a top sport-fishing destination: Los Cabos, Mexico. The Los Cabos Hotel Association and Los Cabos Tourism Board originally founded the tournament in 1999 as an event marketing and media program. Along the way, the event helped pioneer the catch/photograph/release system.
With advancements in photography, the tournament will utilize a streamlined catch, video and release system to determine billfish releases. As part of the tournament’s 20th anniversary celebration, the tournament will take the next step to make billfish releases a bigger part of top team determinations.
“Going forward, the point system will be 300 points for blue and black marlin releases, and 50 points for striped marlin, sailfish and spearfish releases,” says tournament director Dan Jacobs. “Weighed blue or black marlin meeting the 300-pound minimum will receive one point per pound in the team division. All undersized marlin brought to the scales will be penalized 300 points, plus two points per pound the fish is underweight.”
The tournament will continue to offer optional jackpots, including daily billfish release, daily largest marlin, overall billfish release points, daily heaviest tuna, wahoo and dorado, as well as the largest marlin of the tournament.
The Los Cabos Billfish Tournament will offer amateur teams an opportunity to enter the daily meat fish jackpot or the daily billfish release jackpot in lieu of the base entry fee. Teams that do pay a base entry fee will be able enter any of the jackpots.
The Los Cabos Billfish Tournament has set the industry standard with its participant-focused format and provides the highest return of team entry fees.
“This tournament could not happen without the help of its loyal participants, sponsors and the Los Cabos fishing community,” says Jacobs. “For that, we are extremely grateful. We look forward to our anniversary event and the next 20 years.”
