These blues will also be along the channel in the Manasquan River first thing in the morning or late in the day when the boat traffic is lightest. Cast small swimming plugs, spoons or popper, and you're in business.

If arm-bending slammers are more to your liking, the central portion of the state has some excellent places to test your skills. The top of them is a stretch of water called the Manasquan Ridge, about 13 to 15 miles out of Manasquan Inlet.

Like several of the other places mentioned here, the Manasquan Ridge is a shallow area that drops off into deeper water. It's not uncommon to see bluefish mix it up with bonito, false albacore and even bluefin tuna, especially toward the end of the summer and into the fall.

The Ridge is a magnet for boats sailing for blues out of Brielle, Point Pleasant and Barnegat Inlet ports, with chumming trips being the mainstay of the day and evening fishing. There are several boats such as the Jamaica, Cock Robin and Queen Mary running out of Manasquan River ports that fish full time for the slammers, but many other boats fish for other species during the day -- and fish for blues in the evenings or on weekends.

Capt. Willie Egerter of the Dauntless, a year-round bottom-fishing boat out of Point Pleasant, told me that he runs two trips a day: bottom-fishing during the day and for blues during the evenings and on weekends.

This is common for many boats running out of Jersey ports. Willie told me that bluefish have been a big boon to party-boat fishing, especially with all the regulations now being placed on bottom species.

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS
When it comes to bluefish, the waters off the northern coast of New Jersey are some of the most fertile along the entire East Coast. Boats sailing out of the Atlantic Highlands and other Raritan Bay ports will target bluefish both day and evening. And in the last several years, there has been no problem finding them.

By late May, bluefish in big numbers have moved into Raritan Bay and even up into the Hudson River, as far upstream as Alpine and Newburg. Some of the best fishing found in the bay itself is around Romer Shoal along the north side of the bay. In the last several years, large schools of bunker have been spending the summer in this area of the bay -- and as already mentioned, bunker are the primary forage for big bluefish.

Capt. Art Hilliard, who skippers the charter boat Eagle out of the Atlantic Highlands Marina, told me that with all the regulations being placed on fluke, weakfish and stripers, many of his charters in the summer and fall are opting to fish for the slammers.

With no size limit, a 10-fish bag limit, no closed season and plenty of fish to catch, bluefish are ideal for many of the bigger corporate and club charters. Most of the trips targeting bluefish made by Capt. Hilliard and other charter and party boats are chumming trips. Once blues find the chum slick, the fishing is usually non-stop.

The one thing about bay hotspots like Romer Shoal is that you never know what size blues you're going to find on any given day. It's not uncommon see to cocktail blues blitzing the baitfish right on the surface one day and the next day, jumbo slammers 10 pounds and up feeding in the same spot.