It’s time to get ready for some silver and blue fireworks! The Blue Marlin World Cup, a one-day event targeting trophy blue marlin, will again be held on July 4th, across the globe. The 2026 Tournament is ushering in the following new rule to add to the fireworks:
“If there is no winner in the 2026 Big Blue Challenge (“BBC”), the 80% prize money portion of the BBC entry fee will roll over to the 2027 tournament.”
On average more than half the fleet enters the BBC. The rollover precedent has become a common practice among other big-game tournaments with a similar optional category. In the event that there is no winner for the BBC, the prize money will roll over each year until there is a winner. Participants, in order to be eligible to win the rollover prize money, must re-register for the Tournament and the BBC in the year in which there is a BBC winner.
Blue marlin weighing more than 500 pounds are the only eligible species and competing teams fish in their respective time zones from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Entries are weighed on certified government scales in their respective locales. Hawaii, Bermuda, Cape Verde, Azores, Madeira, NC Outer Banks, Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana coast) are just a few of the historic big fish hot spots with good odds for participating teams.
The Tournament entry fee for the Blue Marlin World Cup is $5,000 per team. The optional Big Blue Challenge (“BBC”) entry fee is $8,000. There can be separate winners for the Tournament and the BBC; however, if the Tournament winner is also entered in the BBC, that winner will take home all the money in this winner-take-all format.
This year the 4th falls on a Saturday, which should allow even more teams to participate. Last year there was a record World Cup payout of $1.310,000 for the team that won both the Tournament and the BBC. Everyone can join the World Cup experience by tuning into the Tournament’s social media “wall-to-wall coverage” of the action throughout the day.
The Blue Marlin World Cup is a qualifying tournament for the Offshore World Championship.
Thank you to “Black Bart Lures” for being the official lure company of the Blue Marlin World Cup.
The 2026 Blue Marlin World Cup will be held July 4, 2026. For more information or to register, please visit: www.bluemarlinworldcup.com
