News Digest: Hurricane Helene Disruption, Legendary Angler Injured, Bass Fishing HOF

October is here, a month that many believe is the best outdoor month of the year.

From fishing for largemouth bass and striped bass hungrily feeding up for winter to early archery seasons for whitetails in many states to the start of pheasant season in hallowed spots like South Dakota to the commencement of ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting up north to the first real surge of the autumn waterfowl migration activity down the flyways, there’s much for a hunting or fishing enthusiast to do between October 1 and Halloween.

There’s also plenty of outdoor news to consider as the tenth month of the year begins to unfold on the calendar. Some of that news is good, and unfortunately, some of it is not. With that thought in mind, here is the Game & Fish News Digest for this week:

Hurricane Helene Scrambles Southeastern Outdoor's World

Hurricane Helene continues to be an unwelcome newsmaker several days after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall near Perry, Florida, on Sept. 26, 2024.

While the hurricane's storm surge and 140 mph sustained winds caused tremendous destruction on Florida's Nature Coast, the storm's deadly rampage was far from over as the hurricane and its eventual weakened remains unleashed a fury of deadly destruction over Georgia, upstate South Carolina, western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and into the Virginias. As of this writing, the death toll is 125 people, and there are still hundreds missing, although authorities hope that list will dwindle down as wiped-out Wifi and cell communications get restored.

There are—and will undoubtedly be more—disruptions in the outdoor industry and potentially outdoor recreation at wildlife management areas and public grounds because of Helene's rampage. One of the first such disruptions came when the Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced by e-mail that "The joint meeting of the Coastal Marshlands Protection and Shore Protection committees re-scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, has been cancelled due to impacts from Hurricane Helene. All projects slated for consideration at this meeting will be heard at the committee’s next meeting at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15, 2024."

Another Georgia DNR event affected by Helene came with a cancellation announcement: "The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regrets to announce the cancellation of the annual CoastFest event, originally scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Mary Ross Waterfront Park in Brunswick.

The cancellation is due to a variety of logistical factors and DNR staff being redirected to assist with critical debris cleanup and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

To find out more about weather-related closures and alerts from the Georgia DNR, visit their web page dedicated to such alerts.  

In the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina, numerous public fishing areas are closed until further notice due to flooding issues after deadly floodwaters rampaged down stretches of rivers, washing away buildings, roadways, and lives. To keep up with the closures to fishing areas in the Tarheel State, visit the web page dedicated to updating such closures by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. The same is true further north in the Appalachians where multiple Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources locations are also closed due to storm damage too.

In Tennessee, no Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency public hunting and fishing areas are closed as of this writing, but that's not the case with Volunteer State Parks. Over the weekend, state officials announced that Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, Roan Mountain State Park, Rocky Fork State Park and the David Crockett Birthplace State Park are closed due to the effects of Helene on the region. For updates on the situation, visit the Tennessee State Parks website.

And in Florida, where the hurricane made landfall and knocked down countless inland trees in addition to the damage caused by the coastal storm surge and Category 4 winds, numerous Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission facilities and managed areas have been affected and temporarily closed in the northwestern, north central and northeastern part of the Sunshine State. To see the current status of such areas, visit the FWC web page announcing such closures.

New Jersey Striped Bass Fishing Legend Critically Injured in Accident

New Jersey striped bass fly-fishing legend and renowned saltwater fly tier Bob Popovics was reportedly critically injured in a hit-and-run accident on Monday night in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, last week.

A press release posted to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Facebook page on Tuesday, September 24, gave some details as to what happened.

"Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael T. Nolan, Jr., announced that on September 24, 2024, Genell Mcinaw, 50, of Seaside Park, was charged with Knowingly Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Accident resulting in Serious Bodily Injury to Another Person, in connection with an incident that occurred in Seaside Heights on September 23, 2024." 

The local prosecutor's office also shared additional details concerning the alleged hit-and-run accident on Monday night.

"On September 23, 2024, at approximately 9:30 p.m., Officers from the Seaside Heights Police Department responded to the area of Dupont Avenue and the Boulevard for a report of a male lying in the roadway," the press release continued. "Responding Officers discovered a 75 year-old male victim lying unconscious in the roadway with apparent serious bodily injuries. The victim was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he is listed in critical condition.

"An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad, Seaside Heights Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, determined that a dark colored sedan was traveling south on the Boulevard when it struck the victim and fled the area. Further investigation revealed that the vehicle was being operated by Mcinaw at the time of the crash. Mcinaw was taken into custody by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad at her residence without incident. Mcinaw was transported to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where a draw of her blood was obtained pursuant to a court-authorized warrant. Mcinaw was then transported to the Ocean County Jail, where she remains lodged pending a detention hearing."

A fly-fishing-industry veteran who requested anonymity confirmed the news to our Outdoor Sportsman Group sister publication, Fly Fisherman magazine, at midweek last week. The source indicated that he had visited with a couple of Popovics’ good friends over the previous couple of days, and they provided some insight into what happened.

"As I understand it, he was at a meeting of the fly-tying club he had originally started when they met on Monday night," said the unnamed source. "They like to go out and have a beer and some pizza afterwards and they did on Monday night, I guess. Bobby decided to leave and went across the street to his truck. He was by himself and a car came by and hit him and then took off.”

Get well soon Bob, many thoughts and prayers are coming your way from anglers all around the country.

Class of 2024 Inducted into Bass Fishing Hall of Fame

On Sept. 24, 2024, the latest class of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame was inducted into the HOF in Springfield, Missouri during a ceremony at the White River Conference Center.

The names of this year's class are heavyweights in the legend and lore of the sport of bass fishing, including Outdoor Channel television show personality, Zona's Awesome Fishing Show host and recently retired B.A.S.S. tournament analyst Mark Zona; Bass Pro Tour, Major League Fishing and former Bassmaster Elite Series competitor and 2009 Bassmaster Classic champ Skeet Reese; B.A.S.S. television producer Mike McKinnis; late lure making legend Fred Arbogast; and bass fishing trailblazer Alfred Williams, who became the first African-American angler to ever fish in the Bassmaster Classic when he competed in the 1983 event contested on his home water, the Ohio River.

“Since it was announced I was going to be inducted, I’ve gotten calls from people I hadn’t heard from in 30, 35 years to congratulate me on this achievement,” said Williams, who began his angling career after returning home from service in Vietnam, much of his tournament success coming from his close affiliation with Snag Proof Lure Company and its development of the floating frog style of lure. “It truly is an honor for me to be standing here tonight. They’ve said I’m a trailblazer. I didn’t start out to be a trailblazer. I just started on a trail and it got be blazing, I guess.”

In addition to the highlight of this year's Class of 2024 being inducted into the Hall of Fame, the event allowed the HOF to show off its newly expanded venue at the Johnny Morris' Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. 

The night’s celebration also allowed the Hall of Fame to unveil its newly-expanded venue located within Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium, an area that houses the Hall of Fame and many artifacts and historical items from the sport of bass fishing.

“I was feeling so blessed to be downstairs [in the Hall of Fame] and look at the pictures and scrapbooks of memories and how blessed we’ve all been to spend a good part of our lives around the great sport of fishing,” said Bass Pro Shops founder and owner Johnny Morris.

And with little doubt, it’s a safe bet that nearly all of the several hundred people in attendance last week agreed.

Clunn Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Legendary professional bass angler Rick Clunn, who recently stepped away from competition on the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament trail after the 2024 season, is certainly no stranger to Hall of Fames, having been inducted into the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2017, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2001, the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2001, the and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

But last week at the White River Conference Center in Springfield, Missouri, Clunn was given one of the highest awards that it can give out as he was named only the third recipient of the Ray Murski Lifetime Achievement Award, joining the late B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott (2013) and Bass Pro Shops founder and owner Johnny Morris (2017) as the only winners of the award that honors Murski, the late fishing industry veteran and former owner of Strike King Lures.

"The achievement award is something I truly do not deserve,” said Clunn during his remarks. “What I did was for selfish reasons. The most successful people, I think somewhat, have to do that. They have to put everything in their being and passion and commitment into it. Everybody around them has to sacrifice. That’s the way I think most successful people are, not necessarily anglers. Very few times do we have the time to reflect on all those people and what they did for us. Ray was one of those people. There are so many people that you will never know that have given so much to this sport in an unselfish way. 

“There’s something to commitment and passion that I can’t totally explain. I’m often asked by parents, ‘Can my son make it?’ … I can’t tell you if they’ll make it unless I ask them one question: Have they hit rock bottom yet?  Because passion when everything is coming your way is easy to hold onto. But if they do not have that passion when they hit rock bottom, they probably won’t make it. If that passion is still there, they’ll figure out a way to make it work.” 

Morris told a fascinating story about how true that was for Clunn, noting that prior to the 1976 Bassmaster Classic—which Clunn won with a total weight of 59 pounds, 15 ounce, a triumph that served as the first of his four career Classic titles and the first of his 1976-77 back-to-back title run—the then Texas resident demonstrated his great love for the sport.

In an era where Scott did not let the anglers know where they were competing until it was derby time, Clunn—then a fishing guide on southeast Texas' Lake Conroe—found money tight. So much so that he didn't have the funds to make the trip happen until he pawned his prized Browning .270 BAR hunting rifle, collected the $400 that the decision provided him, and then boarded a chartered flight bound for Alabama's Lake Guntersville.

After winning the event's top prize of $25,000, Clunn returned to the pawn shop to reclaim his prized hunting rifle, only to find out that it had already been sold.

Last week, with 2020 HOF inductee Steve Bowman doing the honors at the podium, Morris summoned Clunn to the stage and presented him with a new Browning commemorative rifle.

"Rick, what you mean to the sport of fishing it’s unbelievable,” said Morris. “Not just your skill, but your passion and influence. That you choose to live your life here in the Ozarks makes us very proud to be your neighbor. I am grateful to you.” 

While Clunn plans to continue competing in B.A.S.S. Open events, he wrapped up his Elite Series career a few weeks ago and capped a career of unbridled angling passion that saw him compete in more than 500 events and collect major tournament wins in five different decades along the way.

Congratulations Rick, and thanks for the memories.

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