Got a decent one on Cherokee today. Thought I had a rockfish. I've caught bigger smallmouth but this one put up the best fight so far. I was shaking when I got in to the boat and saw it wasn't a rockfish.
I would guess it's about like any other TN lake... slower than the summer. That was only the 2nd time I have fished Cherokee. The first was a summer evening and we got run off by a thunderstorm shortly after launching.