I haven't done it in many moons but I have caught stripers on surface in the fall at Cumberland. But what I remember is the surface action started later -- more like late November (Thanksgiving time) or early December. In fact, the last time I striper fished Cumberland was several years ago with some buddies from work and we went down the 3rd week of October and hired a guide. Going out with the guide he had us dragging lures behind down riggers at 70 to 100 feet and he said that October is a month where the fish were really deep and could be hard to locate. We only dredged up 4 that day so I am thinking the surface bite is later than October. Maybe some of the Cumberland regulars can chime in on this one.

kc