Podcast
West Virginia Outdoors Audio Playlist
Hosted by MetroNews · EN
Join Chris Lawrence as he takes aim at Hunting and Fishing issues in the Wild and Wonderful state of West Virginia.
20episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
May 16, 2026 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
5d ago00:53:51Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence covers three stories from West Virginia's fishing world. Preston County angler Matt Bourne recounts landing a new state record chain pickerel — 27.95 inches from a private flood control pond — breaking the record he set himself in 2019, this time from a kayak using a homemade hybrid spinner lure with no net and a five-attempt battle to land the fish. DNR Eastern Panhandle fisheries biologist Brandon Keplinger then joins to discuss his ongoing project reintroducing genetically native brook trout to lower elevation streams in the region where the species was once extirpated, including the challenges of riparian habitat, acid precipitation, and drought years like 2024 and 2025. The conversation closes with the surprising rebound of smallmouth bass fishing on the South Branch of the Potomac — a species that was itself a historical introduction — and the biology behind why the fishery collapsed in the early 2000s and eventually recovered.
Transcribe →May 9, 2026 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
2w ago00:53:46Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence opens the show fresh from emceeing the West Virginia Trout Festival in Franklin before welcoming two guests with major fishing and wildlife news. Wood County angler Ed Powell breaks down his seventh-place finish in the Bassmaster Open at Lake Norman — a 43-pound, three-day performance built on a precisely dialed-in dock skipping pattern targeting floating docks at creek mouths, combined with a late-tournament adjustment to a new bait he's keeping close to the vest.DNR wildlife disease specialist Ethan Barton then delivers a comprehensive update on chronic wasting disease in West Virginia, covering the ongoing high prevalence in Hampshire County — where more deer are now dying from CWD than from hunters — and the first-ever CWD detection west of the Alleghenies following a positive finding in a captive deer operation in Marion County. Lawrence also covers new DNR regulations lifting horsepower restrictions on five state lake impoundments and the approved expansion of youth deer hunting to include bucks on designated youth hunting days.
Transcribe →05-02-2026 WV Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
3w ago00:54:00Tap to summarizeOn this special episode of West Virginia Outdoors, Chris broadcasts from the West Virginia Trout Festival in Franklin. Chris talks with presenters and organizers about everything related to trout fishing.
Transcribe →April 25, 2026 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
4w ago00:53:48Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence opens spring gobbler season with two guests covering very different sides of outdoor life in West Virginia. Kelly McCurdy, district biologist for the National Wild Turkey Federation, details a new $820,000 multi-year agreement with the West Virginia DNR to improve public land access and habitat — beginning with road improvements on Sleepy Creek WMA — and covers the NWTF's plans for prescribed burning, native warm season grass conversion, and brood range restoration on WMAs across the state. McCurdy also addresses the recent end of the NWTF's private lands program through the NRCS and new legislation allowing prescribed fire on private land. Ed Daniels of Shady Grove Botanicals in Mill Creek then joins for a full conversation on morel mushroom hunting — covering how to find, identify, harvest, and preserve them — along with a broader look at medicinal mushrooms, wild ginseng season, and other edible and therapeutic species found in West Virginia's woods this time of year.
Transcribe →04-18-2026 WV Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Apr 1800:54:00Tap to summarizeOn this episode of West Virginia Outdoors, Chris talks with John Terry who set a new state length record for Tiger Trout, Mike Peters from the DNR talks about the upcoming Youth Spring Gobbler season, and Newman Brown from Run and Gun Game Calls showcases some of their turkey calls.
Transcribe →April 11, 2026 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Apr 1100:44:59Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence marks the show's 32nd anniversary and welcomes Brent Null of Null Custom Calls from Red House in Putnam County for a full hour focused on spring gobbler season. Null shares how a late-in-life passion for turkey hunting — rekindled by taking his grandson out — led him to start crafting his own calls just over a year ago, beginning with a wingbone call made from a bird he harvested. Lawrence and Null work through an array of pot calls in the studio, covering materials including frosted glass, ceramic, slate, copper, titanium, and stoned aluminum, discussing how each affects pitch, rasp, and performance in wet conditions. Null also explains his unconventional use of AI to analyze his calls against real turkey vocalizations, and demonstrates a bamboo tube call and bamboo trumpet he built himself. The two close with turkey hunting strategy, scouting tips for Putnam County, and Null's goal of getting his 13-year-old grandson his first gobbler behind one of his handmade calls.
Transcribe →04-04-2026 WV Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Apr 400:54:03Tap to summarizeOn this episode of West Virginia Outdoors, Chris talks with Scott Lattea, the state's newest Master Angler, and Kellan Snyder from Breezewood Adventures, which provides canoe and kayak services, guided fishing trips and private camping.
Transcribe →March 28, 2026 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Mar 2800:53:35Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence kicks off the show by celebrating 33 years of Hunting and Fishing Talk on the Radio, then welcomes Jason Stewart to discuss the upcoming Appalachian Bow Hunter Challenge — a two-day fitness-meets-archery event set for May 1st and 2nd at Winterplace Ski Resort. The event features a 5K mountain challenge with weighted packs, a conventional 3D shoot, and a head-to-head speed course that puts competitors through conditions designed to simulate real-world bow hunting scenarios. Chris and Jason also discuss how events like Train to Hunt and Beast Mode Archery have inspired this first-of-its-kind West Virginia competition, which is already drawing participants from six states. Later, Dave Wellman, Assistant Chief for Fisheries at the West Virginia DNR, joins the program to preview the ninth annual West Virginia Gold Rush — a two-week trout stocking event designed to get kids and new anglers on the water. Dave also covers the hatchery system behind the program, including upgrades at the Bowden facility, ongoing walleye and muskie broodstock collections, and the DNR's approach to managing West Virginia's growing muskie fishery. Chris wraps up with a conversation about lock-and-dam tailwater fishing and what anglers can expect throughout spring and into early summer.
Transcribe →03-21-2026 WV Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Mar 2100:54:00Tap to summarizeOn this episode of West Virginia Outdoors, Chris talks with John Hammond, coach of the Mountaineer Rifle Team, Randy Kelley of the WV DNR on elk herd health, and Chris Ashley with a big buck story.
Transcribe →03/14/26 - West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence
Mar 1400:53:51Tap to summarizeChris Lawrence covers a full slate of hunting and fishing news on this week's West Virginia Outdoors. Rob Pate of the Southern West Virginia Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation previews the chapter's 25th anniversary banquet at Tamarack and shares an update on the growing Tomlin WMA elk herd, now at 140 animals with roughly 25 calves expected this spring. Ron Bierstein of Oak Orchard Tackle and Lodge in Orleans County, New York, reports on peak steelhead season along Lake Ontario tributaries and the approaching open-water charter season. DNR District 4 fish biologist Corey Hartman explains proposed changes to bass catch-and-release rules on the New River and Greenbrier River aimed at controlling the spread of invasive Alabama bass. Lawrence also reviews the DNR's proposed big game season adjustments, bear hunting rule changes, and new legislation affecting small impoundments and senior license holders.
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