I fished the Upper Bay tonight for schoolies. As I arrived at my spot, fish started busting all over for small bait. I reached in my plug bag and pulled out a Rebel Jumpin' Minnow. The fish were all over this plug and I landed quite a few decent schoolies with it. The Jumpin' Minnow is a plug I should be using more often. It is one of those skimmers like a Zara Spook that seems to dart and jump and swim back and forth across the surface with an erratic motion as you vigorously jerk the rod tip with small pulls. It drives stripers crazy, and they will aggressively attack this artificial. In the past I have had good luck with it in the Bay but I know a lot of fishermen who do well with it at the oceanfront where it will usually outfish a popper, especially when the fish are fussy and feeding on top.
As far as plugs go, this one is relatively inexpensive as it sells for about 5 bucks. I like the 4 1/2 inch model in a bone (white) color. I suggest beefing up the hooks since the hooks that it comes with are quite flimsy. The plug is lightweight and is ideally suited to light tackle fishing. Try them and I think you will be surprised just how good they are!