Will ReedyWill Reedy

Will Reedy is a West Virginia writer and contributor to West Virginia Explorer Magazine whose work focuses on hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. Through essays and feature writing, he explores the landscapes, communities, and traditions that define West Virginia, bringing a thoughtful perspective to stories about heritage, travel, and everyday Appalachian life.
Channel Catfish

W.Va. DNR: Catch a channel cat, and win a night’s camping

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In an effort to increase visitation at state-managed parks and recreation areas, the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources will begin stocking more than 5,000 channel catfish in West Virginia ponds and lakes on May 20, 2014, and anglers who report a tagged catfish will receive a certificate good for a night’s … Read more

Illustration of Whip-poor-will

Biologists seek help finding whip-poor-wills in W.Va.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is seeking public help in locating whip-poor-wills, rural songbirds that may be on the decline in West Virginia and in adjacent states. According to Curtis I. Taylor, chief of the Wildlife Resources Section for the division, biologists are asking observers to report any and … Read more

Austin Hoffman and record blue cat taken on Ohio River, 2014

State confirms W.Va. record blue catfish taken in Ohio River

APRIL 30, 2014 –The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources today confirmed the capture of the largest and longest blue catfish in state history, taken on the Ohio River below the Robert C. Byrd Lock & Dam near Apple Grove, W.Va.,  by Austin Hoffman, of Milton. Hoffman caught the 47.75-inch, 52.95-pound fish using cut bait on April … Read more

Trout taken from Glade Creek

Spring 2014 may be ideal for family fishing in West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Springtime is a good time to take the family fishing, says a West Virginia wildlife biologist. The spring of 2014 may be especially so, thanks to a long, snowy winter. Bret Preston, the assistant chief of warmwater fisheries for the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources, reckoned that adequate precipitation and temperatures have made … Read more