To this end, it’s important to approach surface-feeding activity at slow speed. Take into account what direction the forage and birds are moving in, and as well as wind direction. When you get within casting distance, shut down your engines so you can drift with the current.

When encountering this kind of situation, my first-choice lure is a popping plug or a metal-lipped surface swimmer. Cast it into a school of nervous baitfish and just dance the popper across the surface with gentle action imparted by working your rod tip, causing it to pop and gurgle in an enticing action. With surface swimming metal-lips employ a very slow retrieve, so slow that the plug is barely moving, but enticingly swimming from side to side. Both techniques will often bring exciting surface strikes.

While bluefish are most often the ones causing a surface commotion, stripers are almost always lurking below, feeding on the chunks of mullet, bunker or other forage that the ravenous blues have chopped into pieces. It’s wise to put on a leadhead bucktail jig and strip of pork rind, cast beyond the schooling forage and permit the jig to settle to the bottom.

Retrieve the lure with a whip retrieve, causing the jig to dart ahead, then falter and settle, much like a wounded baitfish. This usually will bring strikes from the deep-feeding striped bass.

There’s also good fishing from the fleets of party boats heading out from Atlantic Highlands, Perth Amboy, Morgan, Leonardo and Keyport, with sailings to accommodate your schedule, including half-day, three-quarter-day, full-day and evening trips.

When the fish are showing on top, these boats generally drift while the anglers jig. If stormy weather causes murky bay waters, these boats often move out into the ocean to the Mud Buoy, 17 Fathoms or the Shrewsbury Rocks.

Fortunately, restricting the menhaden reduction netters from ocean and bay waters for the past several years of has resulted in an upsurge of this important baitfish. Only bait boats are permitted to net menhaden close to shore. As a result of the vast supply of forage, both striped bass and bluefish linger longer in coastal waters.

You’ll find a fine fleet of party boats that sail from Belmar out of Shark River Inlet to fish the Farms and grounds north of their inlet.

Another group of party and charter boats sails from Brielle and Point Pleasant Beach to fish out of Manasquan Inlet, concentrating their efforts on the Klondike, Manasquan Ridge and along edges of the Mud Hole. The Barnegat Inlet fleet hits both North and South Barnegat Ridge.

Initially, most of the packets will try chumming. If the wind is moderate to light, they’re able to drift, chumming with ground-up bunker as they go. If the wind’s brisk, they’ll anchor on some choice bottom and chum.

The key to chumming, especially on these ocean waters, is to use a rod rated for 20- or 30-pound-test, since you’ll often be encountering big blues in the 10- to 15-pound class. Using light tackle, especially spinning tackle, will cause you -- and neighboring anglers -- a lot of grief.

Another key is to keep your 6/0 or 7/0 beak-style butterfish-baited hook constantly drifting with the current. In that way, it drifts out in the same depth of the water column as the chum.

Immediately after Labor Day, these boats will concentrate on bluefish in deeper water. But as forage species vacate the bays and rivers, these boats will work the schools tight to the beach.

Small-boat anglers have the best of both worlds when they sail from Barnegat Inlet, since they can ply the waters off Island Beach State Park to the north, or Long Beach Island to the south. Should inclement weather develop, they can scoot back into the inlet, where there are fine casting opportunities along the two long rock jetties flanking the inlet.