Del Brown Permit Tournament Key West: 3 days, 3 fish

Posted under fly fishing news by Will Benson

Wow!  What a humbling experience the Del brown Permit Tournament was this year.  Especially after the last several weeks which were terrific.  I felt really confident about our chances this year.  But, that’s the thing about Permit.  Just when you think you’ve cracked the code and feel comfortable with catching them, they prove why they are rightfully the most difficult fish in the world.  The fishing was downright frustrating!  Either there were no fish to be found, or the fish that were there wouldn’t show themselves.  It was miserable.  A total mind fuck!  The first day saw the entire field of anglers fishless as gray weather, rain showers and lightning made it nearly impossible to get a shot.  But we did see some fish.  Day 2 was slick calm with blue hazy skies.  Not great conditions but certainly better than the day before.  There just weren’t any fish. By the end of day 2 Capt Scott Collins and angler Greg Smith had caught one, and Capt. Bryan Holeman and angler Chase Wise put up a slightly smaller fish as well. The rest of the field NOTHING!  Day 3 was again slick calm with clear skies.  Again even fewer fish than the day before.  Only Capt Jeffrey Cardenas and angler Jack Knoll managed a fish.  Only 3 fish were caught during the entire event despite relatively decent weather and tides.  It sounded like everyone had a story about the one that never came tight, and about the numbers of fish sliding and floating around, but not eating.  A three-way tie was decided by length of fish.  Here are the final results.
1st: Capt. Scott Collins            Angler: Greg Smith

2nd: Capt. Jeffery Cardenas     Angler: Jack Knoll

3rd: Capt. Bryan Holeman        Angler: Chase Wise

Congrats to all that fished it and managed to catch a fish, but big props to our boy Bryan and his secret spot that as of last week most of us thought was bullshit.