Grand Bahama Angler Is Two Time Winner of The Del Brown

[Fishing Report]

Grand Bahama Angler Is Two Time Winner of The Del Brown


Grand Champion Greg Vincent


Key West, Florida Keys: In the late 90's when legendary permit fly angler Del Brown was first approached with the idea of a permit fly tournament, his first response was, "you must be crazy!" After some thought, Brown warmed up to the proposal, and even became excited about such a difficult and unique competition. Then when the final bomb was dropped that the tournament would proudly carry his name, Del (the godfather of permit fly anglers with over 500 to his credit) humbly admitted he couldn't have been more honored.
The late, great Del Brown would certainly have called this year's field "crazy". Participants faced near perfect weather conditions for every other fish on the flats than permit. Zero mph wind making the already tough job of fooling a permit on fly even more challenging.
Greg Vincent of Grand Bahama Island, teamed up with flats guide Captain Justin Rea, made the most out of only a handful of shots by wading in the warm Florida Keys waters to land one permit of 28.5 inches on the morning of the last day to become the 2011 Grand Champion. This was also the Largest Permit. Greg Vincent and Captain Justin Rea are the first team to win the Del Brown two times in the eleven years of the Del Brown Permit Tournament. This team also dominated in 2009. You can contact Justin at stingreacharters.com.

This event was headquartered out of the very accommodating Hurricane Hole Restaurant/Marina/Bar. Extraordinary kick-off dinners were enjoyed at the Azur Restaurant on Grinnell Street downtown Key West. All awards were sculptures by Roger Fowler and original oils and water colors by Jorge Martinez of Miami and photos by Honson Lau and Del Brown. Other sponsors were Nautilus Reels and Scott Rods. Permit caught in the Del Brown are measured to the fork of the tail and photographed on a tri-colored ruler. Fish up to 18 inches are worth 100 points, 18-30 inches are 150 points, and 30 plus big silvery discs are 250 points. Ties are broken by total inches.

Greg Vincent wearing his lucky hat and his winning fish.

Greg Vincent, Charlotte Ambrogio, Captain Justin Rea
Sculptures by Roger Fowler fowlersculpture.com
For more information about the Del Brown, contact tournament director Charlotte Ambrogio at csasun@aol.com