Black marlin are the least common of the three marlin we see off Cabo and the heaviest built. They are not a fish you book a week for and expect. They are a fish you are ready for when the season lines up and the conditions are right.
Three marlin species swim in this water. Striped marlin you can plan on. Blue marlin you can hunt through the summer. Black marlin is the one you get if the day goes your way.
Blacks are built differently from blues. Heavier through the shoulders, shorter and thicker, with pectoral fins that do not fold flat against the body. That last detail is the reliable way to tell a black from a blue when a fish is boatside and everyone is arguing about it.
They also fight differently. A blue tends to run and jump. A black is more likely to go down and stay down, and turn the fight into a long grinding pull straight beneath the boat.
Blacks are a warm water fish here, and the window runs through summer and into fall, roughly the same stretch as the blues. Late summer and early fall are your best odds.
Even in the good months, a black marlin is an uncommon catch off this cape. Anybody who tells you otherwise is selling something. We would rather you book knowing that and be delighted than book expecting it and be disappointed.
Blacks often relate to structure more than blues do. Underwater banks, drop offs, and the edges where deep water comes up against something are worth working. They also follow bait, so where the tuna and the bait schools are holding is where we spend time.
Practically, that means the offshore banks and the deeper water beyond them. It is a full day at minimum, and a multi day offshore run puts you on water that gets far less pressure.
Heavy trolling. Big lures or large rigged bait, pulled on tackle sized for a fish that can go five hundred pounds and up. We are not fishing light for these.
The other productive method is slow trolling a live bait, particularly a big one, near structure or a bait school. It is a patient way to fish and it does not produce many bites. The bites it produces tend to be from good fish.
When a black eats and sounds, be ready for the fight to become a lifting contest. This is where the drag settings and the boat handling matter more than anything you do on the rod, and where an experienced crew earns the day.
We will say this plainly. If your goal is to catch a black marlin, you should book multiple days in the right season, accept that you may not get one, and enjoy the fishing you do get in the meantime. That is the honest version.
What we can promise is that we will fish for them properly. Right tackle, right water, right bait, and a spread built for the fish rather than for easy numbers.
Black marlin go back in the water. That is the normal outcome and it is what we plan for. It is not something we can promise for every single fish, because it depends on the day and on the fish in front of us, and that call belongs to the captain.
Handled the usual way. Photo alongside with the fish in the water, hook out or leader cut close, and a proper revive before release.
A big black marlin is a decades old animal and we would far rather it stayed in the water.
Blacks come out of full day and multi day offshore trips. Tell us at booking that black marlin is your priority so we can plan the run, the bait, and the tackle around it, rather than fitting it around a general offshore day.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
