Chris Dunaway is a catfish angler. He prefers to fish from his boat, but don’t be surprised if you see him throwing out a line from the bank if the opportunity presents its self.
On Monday October 8, Catfish Weekly’s RigRap Wheel landed on CatfishNow for the angler from Buffalo, WV in Putnam County. This is his story.
“I always had a love for fishing,” said Chris. “It didn’t matter what I was fishing for. I would fish for anything that would take the bait. I’m still like that today. From sitting on the bank, fishing for bluegill, bass, crappie, or catfishing. I just love to go fishing.”
“I go catfishing whenever I can,” revealed Chris. “It might not be very long at a time, or the right time, but anytime is a good time to go.”
“My catfishing began when I moved to Buffalo around 8 years ago,” reported Chris. “I usually fish the Kanawha River, but occasionally venture out to the Ohio River.”
Buffalo is close to the Winfield Locks and Dam on the Kanawha River. They are the last lock and dam System on the Kanawha River before it goes into the Ohio River at Point Pleasant WV. Chris has the best reason in the world for fishing the Winfield Locks.
“When you fish the locks, you never know what you might catch. One time it might be a hybrid bass, the next might be a channel catfish. It’s kind of like Christmas in the summer,” joked Chris. “You know there is something on the line, but you don’t know what it is till’ you get it in.”
Many people contributed to Dunaway’s catfish education.
“My biggest influence in the sport of catfishing is those people I’ve met and asked questions of. Strangers, friends, journalists, and the wonderful YouTube videos have all helped me learn more about catfishing.”
In speaking of YouTube Chris identified one of his favorites. “There are a bunch of anglers that come to the Tennessee River. Ty Konkle of FV-catfish.com shoots a lot of videos on the Tennessee and has come to be one of my favorites.”
“The videos have helped me a lot,” continued Chris. “They have taught me what to look at on the graph, how to preserve bait, various tricks and techniques, and boat maintenance. Learning from videos comes down to taking what they are telling you and applying it to your situation. Everything you learn might not work in your area, but what if you find something that helps you out on a tough day. Then it’s all worthwhile.”
One of the things that keeps any angler going back to the water is a successful trip, even when it’s not exactly what they planned. Chris had such a trip recently that demonstrated his passion for the sport.
His trip also reminds you of the proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Chris did not let a little adversity spoil his fishing fun.
“It may depend on how you look at it,” admitted Chris. “But I look at it as my best outing. I had some free time on a Saturday evening and decided to go fishing. By the time I got the boat hooked up, loaded, and launched, I had about an hour before dark.”
Chris started downriver and made it about an 1/8th mile when his outboard just quit.
“I dropped the trolling motor and made way toward the bank to head back to the ramp,” explained Chris. “As I’m trolling upriver I turn my graph toward me where I could see it. About quarter of the way up from where I started, I see a good bit of structure show up on the graph. I decided to make the best out of a bad situation and anchored up on the spot.”
Chris baited up 6 rods with cut skipjack and fan casted all around the boat.
“As those baits were soaking I called my father-in-law,” recalled Chris. “I asked him for help when I got back to the ramp to load my boat. After about 30 minutes a rod went down. Judging by the take down it acted like a good fish.”
“As it turned out the fish was better than what I first thought,” clarified Chris. “It happened to be my new personal best blue. It was a nice healthy 30-pound fish. That might not be big to a lot of people, but it’s good for where I fish.”
As his catfishing skills and knowledge grows, Chris is developing a “bucket list” of places he would like to fish.
“I have so many places that I want to go,” concluded Chris. “The Tennessee River would have to be number one right now. Just seeing the number of fish caught and the size of fish being caught out of that river system is unbelievable to me.”
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Editor’s Note: Everyone likes to win stuff and there is a new game in town. If you have been watching Catfish Weekly on Monday nights you know that Lyle Stokes and Doc Lange have a new giveaway going on. They spin the RigRap Wheel several times each show and someone wins the prize that the wheel stops on.
It’s free and it happens every Monday night. If the wheel lands on CatfishNow the winner gets their catfish story told on the CatfishNow website. You can visit the Catfish Weekly Facebook page to enter.
