On the final episode of 2025, West Virginia Outdoors with Chris Lawrence looks back on a remarkable year across the Mountain State’s woods and waters. Chris revisits one of the biggest themes of the year — a surge in new state fishing records — including conversations with anglers who set marks for blue catfish, largemouth bass length, black crappie, redhorse sucker, and redear sunfish.

The show also reflects on a memorable story from Cherokee Lake in Tennessee, where a West Virginia angler landed a record-sized striper but chose conservation over certification by releasing the fish.

The episode also returns to one of the year’s most endearing moments with Brooke Markley, the 2025 West Virginia Trout Festival Queen, whose passion for hunting, fishing, and the outdoors shattered pageant stereotypes. From her elk hunt in Colorado to fishing Franklin’s streams, her story became a highlight of the season.

The year-end broadcast blends record-book moments, conservation ethics, community traditions, and personal stories that defined West Virginia Outdoors in 2025, closing the year with gratitude for listeners and anticipation for what lies ahead in 2026.