anglersattheadjoiningmarina, andtheyflat-out ignore
thecatcalls fromskippersasking if theywant tocharter
afishingboat. Inaboutanhour, aglowing-orangeMex-
icansunwill slowlypeekover thehorizonandbegin
tofirstwarmand then, as itmorphs toaneye-burning
yellow, cook thepeopleand thestructuresbelow.
Butnot justyet.
TheAmericans in thebarat5a.m. are in thecradle
of tropical tourism,but theyaresittingramrodstraight.
Theyareallbusiness.
Todaymarkstheshotgunstartof the35thannu-
alBisbee’sBlack&BlueMarlinTournament.Asthe
principalsof theevent, theirearly-morningmeeting isa
last-minutechecklist forthenextthreedays, complete
withaboning-upontheofficialrules, lestanyentrants
starttoosoonandgetdisqualified, thereby forfeiting
themostexpensiveentry fee insportfishing.Andeven
thoughmany inthebarhavebeenapartof the35tour-
naments—astheBlack&Bluewas,and is,a familyaffair
—thedozenAmericansarestillcognizantthatthere’s
nosuchthingasstatusquowhen itcomestotheBisbee.
Rightnow theemceehimself,WayneBisbee,has the
floor, andhiscrew listenswithrapt interest.
This is, simplystated, theSuperBowloffishing
tournaments, and thewholeanglingworld iswatching.
Many internationallyknownfishermen, aswellas the
powerelitewhowant tocheck“fishing theBisbee”off
theirbucket lists,descendonCaboSanLucas,Mexico,
everyOctober,pay the$71,500entry fee (plus three
additional$20,000bets for theChupacabraDaily
Jackpot), andsteel themselves for threedaysofchoppy
offshoreGulfofCalifornia/PacificOceanseas inhopes
of landingamonster.Andwhy?Because threedays
from today, someone isgoing tobeamillionaire.
“Thiseventmeansquiteabitnot just tome,but to
fishermeneverywhere,”WayneBisbeesaysovercoffee
thedaybefore the tournament. “Ifyou thinkabout
it, thesedays, thingsdon’tusually last for35years.
Especially forsomething thatstartedwithsixboatsand
abunchofguys fromSouthernCaliforniacomingdown
toCabo tohave fun.”
The tourde force that is theBlack&Blue isa little
less than24hoursaway, andwhilehe’sanimatedand
welldosedonMexicanblackcoffee,Wayne takesa
moment fromrunningbetweenhishomebaseof the
BajaCantinaand themainstageat themarina togive
ahistory lessonon theBlack&Blueand,byproxy, ahis-
tory lessononmodern-dayCaboSanLucas.
Waynesitsatoneof thewooden, sun-tannedBaja
Cantina tableswearingaT-shirt thatbearshisname.
Hedoesn’thaveanoutwardappearanceoffishing
ABOVE
:
WayneBisbeeat
theBajaCantina in
CaboSanLucas,Mexico
AMERICANWAY
APRIL2016
71
OPENINGSPREADANDPHOTOATTOPLEFT
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