BY MIKE STEVENS
LOS CABOS, BCS – A total of 131 teams erupted out of Cabo Marina in the 2025 Western Outdoor News Cabo Tuna Jackpot (CTJ) on the hunt for huge tuna, wahoo, dorado and payouts. The fishing at this installment of “the richest tuna tournament in the world” did not disappoint, with a record number of fish brought to scale to go along with a total payout of $1,438,500. Three teams earned six-figure payouts after the two-day event, and a team that’s no stranger to the CTJ winner’s circle hauled home over a third of the total purse.
This time, it was a 253.75-pound yellowfin tuna weighed in late on Day 2 that made team North Star tournament champions and earned $54,825 (the base payout) of their total cash score, but that was just a drop in the bucket. The fact that the real money is made in the optional side pots for each species was not lost on the CTJ veterans, and they were in the tuna optionals across the board. When the payouts for each of the seven tuna jackpots (ranging from $500 to $20,000 to add them to the basic tournament entry fee) were factored in, North Star laid claim to a total haul of $572,225, all for catching a fish.
A 196.05-pound tuna boated by team Strictly Business II Tuna on Day 1 held the top spot for much of the tournament before North Star played spoiler a day later. Strictly Business II Tuna finished in second place after holding off third-place-finishing Angeles Roofing who brought a 190.5 pounder to the scale. Base payouts plus optionals, Strictly Business II cashed a check for $387,850.
Be it high stakes or a casual day on the water, it’s still fishing and that means there’s always the possibility of an element of heartbreak. Third-place finishing Angeles Roofing was handed a check for $3,225 which is the base payout for third place. The 190-plus-pound yellowfin that got them there was less than 6 pounds lighter than the tuna weighed in by Strictly Business II Tuna that swept the tuna optionals on Day 1. Angeles Roofing wasn’t in all of the optionals, but they were in enough to have earned almost $160,000 if their fish would have been 5.56 pounds heavier.
That’s really the thing when it comes to the CTJ. It’s actually very accessible and affordable as teams can enter for a little as $1,000 for a team of up to six anglers, but the optionals are where the real money is made, and veteran teams enter as many as possible as a rule.
As for North Star, this wasn’t their first rodeo. In fact, it wasn’t their second either. With this victory North Star with Team Captain, James Rosenwald, stands as the only team to win the CTJ three times. They won it with a 372-pound “super cow” in 2012, and with a 228 pounder in 2017. This year, North Star was fishing aboard Feelin’ Azul, a very fast 38-foot Yellowfin powered by three 300hp Mercury motors.
In a post-victory interview with Western Outdoor News, Rosenwald attributed a lot of his team’s success to the fact he spends a ton of time with these top-shelf local fishermen who live in Pueblo la Playa. That’s where Rosenwald stays when he’s not home in Minnesota, and he said that North Star gets somewhat of a head start as a result. North Star has fished in every CTJ since 2009, each with the same core crew led by Captain Roberto Beltran of Pueblo la Playa.
Rosenwald told WON that this year, they “knew” the big ones were in the area they like to fish.
“It varies every year, but this year we knew there were bigger tuna on both banks (inner and outer Gordo),” said Rosenwald. “I got into the $20,000 optional because I knew the odds were in our favor.”
According to Rosenwald, North Star pulled on a big tuna for about an hour-and-a-half on Day 1 that died, sunk out and broke the line. Prior to fishing on Day 2, they shot out to a spot 10 miles past Gordo Banks to fish for a specific scad-type mackerel to use for live bait, and sure enough, that’s what the winning tuna was caught on.
After they bagged their big tuna, team North Star switched gears and targeted wahoo. They got a couple including one that was also brought to the scale on Day 2, but they also lost one at the boat that Rosenwald said was in the 70-pound class.
“That would have been exciting to also get the winning wahoo for the day,” he said.
Scanning the wahoo and dorado optionals in the 2025 CTJ, Rancheros de Todos Santos swept both side pots ($3,000 and $1,000 wahoo optionals) on Day 1 with a 70.6-pound ‘hoo that paid $84,400, the fifth-highest payout in the entire event. On Day 2, Los Cabrones took down the $1,000 wahoo jackpot for a 59.2 pounder worth $41,200, and in the $3,000 optional, TNT’s 47.3-pound wahoo earned them $43,200.
Negotiator was in both the $3,000 and $1,000 dorado jackpots earning that team $85,200 for a 28.4-pound dodo. On Day 2, Canning Hookers brought a 25.2-pound dorado to the scale worth $45,600 in the $3,000 jackpot, and in the $1,000, Dream Maker’s 27.4-pound bull was enough to grab a check for $39,600.
The CTJ weigh-in stage is perfectly nestled between long running tournament supporters, Pisces Sportfishing/Captain Tony’s and Solomon’s Landing right in front of the waterfront’s landmark marlin statue and in the shadow of the events host hotel, Tesoro Los Cabos. On the eve of the competition (“check-in day) this area features booths with reps and merch from CTJ sponsors including but not limited to: Penn, Costa, Gamakatsu, Fujinon, Simrad, Yamaha, Savage Gear, Premium Sportfishing and Smiles International. Other sponsors include Minerva’s Baja Tackle, Mar Vida Sportfishing, Furuno, Gray Fishtag, Terrafin, WIN-TEAM and Griselda’s Smokehouse.
For more info, results and payouts, cabotunajackpot.catchstat.com
