after all the rain, cumberland will be hard to get around on for some time. and eastern tn didn't get as much rain, as middle and western tn. so any of you guys that striper fish at night, don't give up because of cumberland conditions. go fish cherokee, it's as good for striper as cumberland. maybe better. but if you go to cherokee, get you a map. it is shallow outside the river channel. 100 yards out from the shore, theirs places you can hit bottom. I went last night, fished down near the dam. the water was up about 10 ft from my last trip their two weeks ago. it was clean and clear. the water temp was 68.7 I had lots of company, saw about 15 other boats. it's a two hour drive for me, got their around midnight. the lake was slicked off. the shad moved up around 1:30 and brought the striper with them. didn't hear many top water blowup, but when it's like this, shad every where around you. if the striper aren't busting the top. listen to the shad, they will be going crazy. close to where a big striper is at. cast the sliver just past the crazy bunch of shad, and slowly bring it right through them. and with out thinking, you will hear yourself say. oh their she is. anyway had a good trip to cherokee last night, another gallon of fillets in the freezer.this is the way I did it, and I hope it helps some of you guys put some fish on ice. would go back tonight, but it takes me about two days to recover from a all night trip. sometimes I think i'm getting old.