Like Norris, Cherokee's stocking program has been largely successful. And, like Norris, the forage base is a large part of that success. It's full of threadfin shad, gizzard shad and alewives. While all are important, the alewife population is especially noteworthy to striper anglers.

Alewives like cold water. Unlike threadfins and gizzard shad they thrive in it. This allows the stripers and hybrid stripers to stay down in the cold, highly oxygenated waters and still feed. That's important for survival and growth.

Jenkins begins his search for quality fish on Cherokee near the middle of the lake. His favorite stomping grounds are between Point Nine and Point 27. He is searching for warm water.

In most years, the main-lake water temperature in late winter will be anywhere between 45 and 50 degrees. He looks for water a little bit warmer than that. It doesn't have to be much warmer, mind you, just a little bit.

According to Jenkins, the warmest water will be in the creeks. "Sometimes it will go as high as 58 or even 60 degrees," he said. He goes on to remind anglers that this warmer water flows out of the creek toward the main lake or into a cove. When it arrives, it holds big schools of shad.

The very best spots combine warm water with an area where the channel swings in near a point or a creek mouth.

And, just like on Norris, the stripers and hybrid stripers will not be far away. As a practical matter, Jenkins sees very little difference between stripers and hybrid stripers in Cherokee. They are both found near baitfish.

He uses his electronics constantly, but rarely worries about spotting game fish on them. He looks for bait.

"If the shad are there, the stripers will be there," he said. He does admit, however, that if stripers can be graphed, it makes for an advantage. "It lets you target the most shallow ones . . . they are the most active and the easiest to get to bite, at least on Cherokee."

Once he has a good fix on the baitfish, he settles down to fish. Typically he trolls with both planer boards and free lines. He runs the planer boards out as far as possible to help minimize the negative effects of the clear winter water.

His trolling may appear random to a novice, but that would be far from the truth. He works the school in a very methodical manner. His baits will run through the school, above the school and beneath the school. He presents them from at least three or four different directions.

He also varies his speed. "A lot of anglers don't consider speed when they are fishing . . . they should . . . it can be the thing that triggers a bite," Jenkins said.

While doing all this he tries to follow a "loose" S pattern with his boat. By that, he means trolling around the tip of a point, down along the creek mouth or channel and then back out and around the next point.

Jenkins is not an advocate for heavy tackle. He uses the lightest equipment he can get away with for the prevailing conditions. His personal equipment is an Ambassadeur 6500 casting reel mounted on a 7-foot medium-heavy-action rod. He spools his reel with 15-pound-test monofilament line.

This setup is not heavy enough to adversely affect the bite. At the same time, it will handle anything Cherokee has to offer.

He uses live shad for bait. Not surprisingly, his preference is for the little ones. Two inches is as big as he'll go. His reasoning is simple: Most of the bait at this time of year is small, so why give them something that looks different than what they are used to seeing?

Jenkins is a strong believer in circle hooks. He points out that they rarely gut-hook a fish. That means more survive to be caught another day. Another important advantage is that they don't require a hookset. Slow, steady pressure gets the job done. "The hook basically sets itself when trolling with live bait. They're perfect, especially for novice clients," he said.

Every now and then when he is on fish, Jenkins will cast rather than troll. When he does this, it's almost always for Cherokees and when the bite is hot. During those times, he may abandon live bait in favor of soft plastics, usually a minnow imitation jerkbait. His preference is for natural colors.

He uses just enough weight to force his lure down through the baitfish. If that doesn't provoke a strike, he twitches his lure back to the boat. He will vary the length of the twitches, the pauses between the twitches and the speed of his twitches until he finds a combination that works. Jenkins rigs his jerkbaits through the nose with circle hooks. They offer the same advantages with plastics that they offer with live bait.

When asked to give us another tip he laughed and said, "Watch the gulls! They will almost always mark feeding fish and are an interesting example of Mother Nature in action," he continued.

It works this way: The flock will send out a scout bird to cruise the water and look for feeding stripers or Cherokee bass forcing baitfish to the surface. This scout bird will fly in ever larger circles until it spots something.

At that point the bird will start calling and squawking like crazy in a language only fellow gulls understand. After a very short time, the area will be loaded with them. They will swoop down on the water, diving and eating crippled baitfish as if there's no tomorrow.

If you see this going on, head for that spot as quickly as possible. Don't run up on it, just up to it. After that, cast a white bucktail, a plastic jerkbait or a bladebait into the school and hang on.

Stripers in Cherokee will weigh 30 pounds on a regular basis; 40-pound fish are possible. (Some much bigger ones have been reported, but can't be verified.)

Cherokee Reservoir is located east of Knoxville, near Jefferson City. Accommodations are easily available and reasonably priced. There are at least 20 improved ramps around the lake. One will be near where you want to fish.

Drawdowns of 50 feet or more are common at Cherokee during the winter months. This tends to concentrate the fish and opens up some shore-fishing opportunities. It also makes for dangerous boating.

Melton Hill Reservoir is located downstream from Norris on the Clinch River. It doesn't support the numbers of either Norris or Cherokee. It offers excellent winter striper fishing nonetheless.

This is a true trophy reservoir. It has produced several record stripers over the years. At least two weighing over 60 pounds have been verified in the last several years.

Melton Hill fishes much like Norris and Cherokee. Find the warmest water you can. Then work the points, creek mouths and run-off areas for baitfish. After that, troll or cast small shad or plastic jerkbaits through the baitfish or just a little bit under them.

Cherokee bass are present with good size, but their numbers are somewhat limited. Their habits and habitat are similar to that of true stripers. Generally speaking, where you find one you will find the other. Anglers should fish for them in the same places, with the same bait, using the same techniques - if you're going for lots of numbers. If you are hunting the biggest stripers, use bigger baits.

This 5,600-acre reservoir is located near Oak Ridge. Several major highways provide excellent access to its waters. Launch ramps are few and far between, however, due to much of the shoreline being owned by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Instead of staying home and watching a ball game this winter, give eastern Tennessee stripers and Cherokee bass a try this winter. You'll be glad you did.