UPDATED: Legendary New Jersey Fly Angler and Tier Injured in Alleged Hit-and-Run

Update: Popovics Continues to Recover

Legendary New Jersey fly angler Bob Popovics continues his battle to recover after suffering severe injuries in an alleged hit-and-run accident last week in Seaside Heights, N.J.

While there’s been little update on the striped bass angling and fly tying legend, a statement from Popovic’s restaurant, Shady Rest, gives a bit of an update as of September 26.

“As most know by now, on Monday evening, Sept 23, 2024, Bob was struck by a vehicle as he was crossing the street in Seaside Heights,” said the Shady Rest Facebook post, one that has more than 800 comments and 200 shares. “He is still currently in critical condition at JSUMC. 

“Bob is a proud Marine veteran, avid fly fisherman, and master fly tyer. He is devoted to his family, friends, this restaurant, and to you, his customers. We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support we have received, and ask that you continue to keep Bob, and his top notch medical team, in your prayers and good thoughts. We will continue to update on his condition as we can. We love you all. - Alexis, Alexis, Jeremy, Celeste, Jeffrey, and the rest of the Shady Rest Family.”

In a sad twist of fate, several media outlets, including the Asbury Park Press, report that the woman charged by police in the alleged hit-and-run accident actually worked for Popovics at his restaurant.

"Genell A. Mcinaw, 50, of Seaside Park, purchased four drinks less than an hour before striking Robert S. Popovics, 75, with her car, according to the affidavit of probable cause in her arrest," reported the APP. "Mcinaw was employed at the Shady Rest Restaurant on Route 9 in the Bayville section of Berkeley, which is run by Popovics and his family."

The news site also gave some additional insight into Popovic's injuries in its September 28 story: "He would be taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune with 'severe internal injuries' and a broken clavicle (shoulder). He required surgery and his condition was listed as critical."

Fly anglers all across the country continue to think and pray for Popovics and his family as Bob recovers from this horrible incident. We'll keep you updated as more news becomes available.

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE, 9/26/24: 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, N.J. according to multiple media reports.

A fly-fishing-industry veteran who requested anonymity confirmed the news to Fly Fisherman on Wednesday night, noting that he had visited with a couple of Popovics’ good friends over the past day or so, getting some insight into what happened and some details concerning Popovics’ condition.

"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.”

While details concerning what happened to the 75-year old Popovics remain a bit clouded as of now, where the longtime New Jersey fly-rod legend resides in the sport’s history is abundantly clear.

“Bob Popovics is one of the giants of our sport,” said Ross Purnell, longtime editor of Fly Fisherman magazine. “He has been a leader in the saltwater community for decades, and he has redefined saltwater fly tying through his books, magazine articles, and his constant presence at fly-fishing shows. He’s always willing to share with others, that’s why multiple generations of tiers look to him as their mentor. I understand that Bob is seriously injured and has a long recovery in front of him but hopefully he’ll be back at the fly-tying demonstration tables and be walking the surf line at Island Beach State Park next year. We look up to him and wish him the best.”

A press release posted to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Facebook page on Tuesday, Sept. 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."

The news of Popovics being reportedly injured in the accident began to spread quickly on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week via various fly-fishing forums and social media pages, online sites that included Dan Blanton's Fly Fishing Forum and Message Board, the Northeast Saltwater Fly Tying Facebook group, and the StripersOnline.com forum among others.

While information has been guarded about Popovics’ condition, he reportedly suffered multiple serious injuries and has apparently already undergone some surgical procedures to help those broken bones and injuries heal. It is unclear at the time of this writing what Popovics’ official prognosis is, although our unnamed source indicated that he understood on Wednesday evening that there had been some improvement in Popovics’ condition.

As Purnell indicated above, Popovics is no stranger to readers of Fly Fisherman magazine, thanks to his extraordinary saltwater fly-tying abilities, skills that were chronicled in Fly Fisherman's Oct-Nov-Dec 2018 issue, an issued that celebrated the magazine's 50th anniversary. In that story, titled "The 50 Most Influential Fly Fishers," Popovics checked in at No. 33 on the list. 

"There’s no other way to describe Bob Popovics other than to say he’s the most inspirational and innovative saltwater fly tier of all time," Purnell stated in that article. "More than 20 years ago he pioneered the use of epoxy and silicone in tying baitfish imitations, and with Ed Jaworowski published the book Pop Fleyes (2001). He later moved on to light-cured acrylics and became a specialist in using bucktail to effectively tie giant, lifelike baitfish imitations that don’t carry water and are easy to cast. He described his most recent revelations on materials and design techniques with author Jay Nichols in Fleye Design (2016)."

Those legendary abilities at the fly tying vise have resulted in Popovics producing some of the best saltwater striped bass patterns in existence, including the Surf Candy, the Siliclone, Bob's Banger, Cotton Candy, and many more. 

Some of those patterns have been profiled in Fly Fisherman, like the BULKhead Deceiver, his Hollow Fleyes series, and the Jiggy Fly.

In addition to the Top 50 honor, Popovics was also featured in a 2020 destination feature story when Fly Fisherman editor Ross Purnell fished with Popovics on his home turf waters at Island Beach State Park. Using some of his extraordinary flies, Popovics and Purnell targeted the famous fall run on the Jersey Shore.

Popovics has certainly carved his name into the sport’s lore in many ways down through the years, including being the founder of the Atlantic Salmon Saltwater Fly Rodders as well as an advisory member of Temple Fork Outfitters fly rods, and having an affiliation with Tibor fly reels. As you might expect from one of history's greatest saltwater fly tiers, Popovics is also a member of the Renzetti Legacy Tying Team. The New Jersey fly rodder is also an inductee into the North American Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame (1998) as well as the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum Hall of Fame (2014). 

According to the latter's website, Popovics' HOF biography credits his living on the Jersey Shore as a part of his saltwater fly-tying genius.

"Living as he does in Seaside Park, New Jersey, a small town on a slim barrier island with Barnegat Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, it’s no surprise that Bob Popovics is a die-hard saltwater fly-fisher," notes the Catskills Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM) website. "He specializes in casting from the surf for striped bass, bluefish, and false albacore as they prowl the ocean’s edge, ever in search of prey.

"His knowledge of these fish and their habits has made him a master angler. His capacity to imagine new ways of making flies has made him one of most influential saltwater fly tiers. Popovics’s book, Pop Fleyes: Bob Popovics’s Approach to Saltwater Fly Design, co-authored by Ed Jaworowski, revolutionized saltwater fly-fishing with a suite of patterns that employed new techniques and materials to produce lifelike imitations of the forage fish of the Atlantic coast."

An ever popular seminar presenter and fly tier at national and regional fly fishing and fly tying shows, Popovics is also a popular interview for podcasts like Andy Mill's well-known Millhouse Podcast.

And according to the CFFCM website that houses the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum Hall of Fame, the striped bass aficionado, the saltwater-fly-tying guru, and the New Jersey restaurateur is one of a kind, and one all too eager to share his passionate love of the sport and innovative fly-tying ideas with others.

"Popovics has been called one of the great ambassadors of fly-fishing for his eagerness to share his knowledge with fellow anglers," notes the CFFCM site. "This spirit was embodied in the open houses at his home on the Jersey shore, which played a role in the coming explosion of public interest in saltwater fly-fishing. 

"Between 1986 and 1992, on Tuesday nights from January to May, Popovics opened his home to all who shared his passion for fly-fishing the surf to talk strategies and streamers in an atmosphere of camaraderie. Most were local anglers, but visitors from Maine to Maryland, Michigan to Pennsylvania travelled to attend. Among them were some of the biggest names in fly-fishing."

Get well Bob, we’re pulling for you.

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