The Ironman Tour was derived from an idea YT had joked about
last year... a long voyage to the Auger Offshore Floater - far, far away
out in the Gulf. His dream became a reality last week as a brief weather
window allowed us to take advantage of the conditions for a long 5-day trip
over 250 miles offshore out of Packery. The recently installed additional
fuel tanks on the Nyati allowed the capacity for such a voyage. But who would
join in on this epic expedition. Schedules had conflicted with many of the
Nyati crew members but YT was determined to set out regardless. With just
5 brave adventurous souls - Scott, Ronnie, Jared, and I would join YT on
the IRONMAN TOUR.
We ran out of Packery late Thursday afternoon. Approaching the
jetties we set course due E-NE with the radio roaring to the Flight of the
Valkyrie. As Toyaker mentioned, it was a scene that could only be rivaled
by a full sized Viking ship setting sail on a mission to Valhalla. While
calm seas, we cruised out with lightning and relentless storms on the horizon.
We take a slow ride out into the night dodging rain showers
and by sunrise get the gear ready and begin trolling.
Shortly after sunrise we are at one of our first stops
on the 'tour'. The Tequila Offshore Platform in around 600' of water. We
begin to pick up an array of Cuda and Wahoo in the spread including this
solid 'hoo Jared lands fairly quickly.
We immediately run into pesky Cudas and not wanting lose
or damage any gear, we head on to the Cerveza rigs several miles out while
trolling the entire way. As the skies clear for brief intervals, we knew
the NE winds were killing us. We however remain quite optimistic while still
early in the trip.
Once we reach the platforms we are greeted by more Barracuda.
In the mix we do pick up another solid Wahoo. This short stop lasted a few
passes and we are once again on our way. Heading to the Lil' Sister rig we
move along on the shelf. During transit we watch as we have a couple knockdowns
by a possible bill but never hook up. We continued onward and finally reach
the platform. The news is quite the same, scattered rain and no shortage
of Cudas. It was worth a stop but we must continue on course... we kinda.
A slight detour and we head up north a bit to do a drive-by at the Flower
Gardens. A couple hour troll allowed Scott to bust out the Bean-bag and get
some rest while still 'on-the-job'.
As we come up to the Flower Gardens, we notice an instant
display of bait activity. The weed is scattered but keeping the spread clean
is a non-stop job. We are eventually rewared with some grander bait size
Rainbow Runners and a pinner 'hoo. The Cuda then invade us once again...
as if they are seemingly following us to every location. We leave the Gardens
and head in a line to our true destination of Auger. Within 30 minutes and
80W starts screaming... appearing to be a solid fish we get the spread in
and clear the lines.
After a highly resistant yet calm fight we finally get
in the interesting suspect. It was not a massive Yellowfin or Billfish like
we had hoped, but a Wahoo that had hit the lure and hooked just below the
throat and through the high drag and tension of the line, ends up dragging
the hook and practically gutting the fish all the while pulling the fish
in sideways.
We get the lines back for the last hour of daylight.
When it got dark we pulled some baits on the calmness of the sea. Rain is
all around but we have a clear path thus far. Just several hours out, Jared
and Ronnie cook up some badass fajitas and we eat dinner and grab a few hours
of rest.
Come 2am we reach our summertime goal... Shell's Auger
Platform. The rig which can be seen at over 20 miles away, is brilliant in
size and structural presentation when seen up close.
Mysteriously there is little to no surface action which
is not a good sign. Ronnie and I begin fishing for Tuna which are a no show.
Then suddenly Ronnie hooks up on a Top-water. In comes a.... Cuda? Not good.
He dukes it out for about an hour then heads in to sleep. I am left to
investigate the area of the rig. Setting up drifts would result in Cuda's
following us and coming in the underwater lights. I finally would begin nailing
40+lb class Cuda back to back... many on a very large diamond jig that would
pick up Blue Runners, which in return would attract cudas to frenzy often
hooking on the treble hook some how. I would go about 10 straight cudas up
to 5' or larger... many times getting cut off. But persistence truly does
pay off as I eventually hook into the first Tuna of the night. Not a grander
but a solid sushi size Yellowfin.
By now we are not left with much time as the sun is not far
from rising. Jared wakes up and while getting the trolling gear ready, he
drops down a jig and hooks into a 10lb+ Blackfin only to have it hit by a
hungry Cuda at the boat.
As day breaks, the shear size of the offshore rig is
very evident. A couple other sportfishers head in for the morning troll as
well.
We stick around for a couple hours but YT makes an executive
decision that since it is slow, we might as well explore and head further.
We make a troll a couple more hours to the Magnolia Platform... another massive
structure which would appear to hold a lot of predatory fish. We would troll
by the rig trying to keep our distance but it is pointless, the cuda are
everywhere and are simply attracted to this 42' war machine. We troll here
for a while and then decide to head even further. Destination... the fabled
Red Hawk. We would arrive to what would be known as Barracuda City. What
the heck is going on... more Cudas have been present on this trip then we
have ever seen. A plethora filled abundance of sharp-toothed destruction
waiting to hit a lure near you.
We have trolled most of the day with minimal results.
We figure out a game plan for the night and decide to head back to the other
rig and live bait until it is time for the Tuna fishing. We have out a couple
grander Rainbow Runners and a Hardtail or two.
Most of the baits, not so surprising, were hit by cuda's
even 1/4 mile away from the rig. However, during the slow bump and troll
on what turned glass-calm seas, we witnessed several quality Yellowfin go
aerial chasing bait. This was finally a good sign. And come sundown, the
games begin. In the midst of obtaining some Flying fish, Ronnie nets up a
wild puffer. What would be a Nyati trip without some freak of nature. A quick
pic before releasing this oddball creature.
With YT at the helm... Scott, Ronnie, Jared, and I begin
jigging and start nailing Blackfin Tuna fairly consistently. This is also
a good sign. After an hour or two we begin chumming and Ronnies strikes first
nailing his first meaty YF of the trip.
Not long and Scott is hooked up on a good fish as well...
A quick picture of Ronnie and Scotts 'double yellow'.
Ronnie would bang out another Yellowfin and we would soon get
serious and move closer to the rig. After a half hour or more of quietness,
it is eventually interrupted by me hooking up and landing another solid YF
for the boat.
As I land mine Jared is hooked up on a very solid Tuna.
After a well fought fight the fish is subdued and Ronnie
gaffs it into the boat. We get a picture of the 2nd double of the night.
While having a set time by the captain to depart by,
it keeps getting delayed by the addition of Tuna hitting the deck. While
throwing a jig down trying to obtain some more Blackfin, I end up hooking
into another YF on one of Ronnie's rods.
Our Tuna fun is about done as we have maxed out the currently
available box space and while transporting fish to the large ice chest on
the bow, Scott hooks up on a Grander Blackfin Tuna.
We had decided to take our fill and leave. The conditions still
remained great so we decided to head nearly 80 miles inshore to the Gunnison
Platform for the morning trolling. There we would see another sexy sportfishing
yacht in which Cole had jumped aboard on and had been part of the crew. We
trolled around there shortly but decided to head in to another floater. While
Cole and gang were taking their time live-baiting the rig, they were rewarded
by their efforts with a top-notch Blue Marlin.
We approach the other floater and decide to live bait again
ourselves. In an attempt to obtain some bait, I drop down the mega diamond
jig and hook into a log. Jared soon hooks into another log. Could this be
the mythical deep-water AJ's surrounding the floater??
We battle it out with some muscle fish and slowly get them to the surface.
Sure enough Jareds fish is at the surface and soon followed
by mine. Behold are 2 quality donkey AJ's. We get a quick picture with the
double Amberjack.
After a break to catch my breath I drop down and am hooked
up once again. In comes another solid Amberjack!
In between the schools of Almaco Jacks, Scott soon follows suit with an AJ
of his own!
Ronnie still hangs in there with an ill desire to land
one of these babies despite the random thunderstorms.
While unsucessfully obtaining enough quality smaller
baits, we decide to just troll our way out to the hilltops for a possible
sword fight later in the evening. During transit we would knock out some
Dorado and another 'hoo. We finally end up getting to our destination and
get baits out just after dark. Things are slow and the rain is random. I
drop down for tilefish in about 900' and nail a large Hake.
This would be the only piece of action of the night in
this location. We decide to leave early and head back to Cerveza/Tequila
for the morning troll. The morning would bring us with more rain, Cudas,
and even more rain. We decide to run in to another offshore platform but
are greeted with heavy thunderstorms. We troll around for a bit but the day
was slow, as with the weekend troll. We finally decide to call it a lonnng
weekend and head back in. We get back and break the jetties before sunset
Monday evening. Another long and epic adventure has come to a close and we
begin the long daunting, yet rewarding task of fish cleaning.
Overall, despite the calm seas, the weather was less than
cooperative especially in terms of abundant upper-level moisture wreaking
havoc in the gulf. Nonetheless we found the fish when it mattered and made
a most epic meat-haul out of the trip. Thanks to Capt. YT for allowing such
a massive expedition and thanks to Ronnie, Scott, and Jared for great team
work and cooperation. There aren't many 5-man teams capable of such a trip
but the pieces came together and a safe productive trip was the result. The
long awaited trip to Auger... and beyond has now been achieved. We are now
just in the planing stages of next years Cancun IRONMAN Journey.
Til then, good luck and safe fishing!
Oz and Crew of the NYAI... out.
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