Veteran angler Warren Hinrichs of Jacksonville, Fla., caught three permit on fly to win the 2006 Del Brown Invitational Permit Tournament honoring the late angling legend.
Hinrichs earned the title of grand champion angler fishing with Captain Kris Suplee of Marathon, Fla. Suplee was named the tournament’s grand champion guide.
Hinrich’s catches included a 30-incher that was the tournament’s single largest permit. The fish was three inches longer than the one that earned him the largest fish award in the 2005 tournament.
Hinrich’s other two fish measured 23-1/8 inches and 17-1/2 inches.
Doug Mayer of Jacksonville was named the 2006 runner-up grand champion. He caught one permit, which measured 24-5/8 inches, while fishing with Captain Dale Perez of Tavernier, Fla.
Mayer was nearly edged out by Will Benson of Key West, who also caught one permit while fishing with Captain Bill Houze of the island city. But because Mayer’s catch was a scant quarter-inch longer than Benson’s, he captured the runner-up title.
Fourteen anglers participated in the tournament named for Brown, who died in 2003. The internationally acclaimed angler was the inventor of the Del Brown Permit Fly, also called the Merkin, and caught more than 500 permit during his lifetime.
