I agree with boatman!
You could tie a hook on a cigerrette and catch schoolies.
I do keep a castmaster tied on bottom and a chartruse jig tied on top. I have best luck when the jig has a spinner on it. When I reel in the slab or humdinger is just below the surface and the spinner jig will cause a disturbance on the surface and you can see fish run ofer there to take a look/bite.

First thing. Don't charge in, ease in or you will spook them. Then throw a Little Fishy Shad. You can fish this bait many different ways. Steady retrive, yo yo, raise the rod high and swim it along the top or just let it fall through the school to the big ones waiting below and the best thing is it has a single hook easy and fast to remove. Those blacks you fish love them also. Good luck!

Two words...Little George!!!

sumpin shiny with a hook on it

3" Sassy Shad or other 3" swimbait.

Also, try a slab, you can usually catch larger fish under the surfacing fish.

If the fish are in deep water 35+ surfacing fish can somtimes be tough to catch. Then I use a Pop-R or Tiny Torpedo.

Seems just about all the bases have been covered. If they're on top and active, approach quietly. Chunk something that you throw beyond the surface meelee or on its' edges and try to get it back without getting bit. Try not to splat a big old hunk-o-sumthin right in the middle. Once you're tired of that and the fish have not left, chunk your favorite Humdinger (with mashed down barbs) beyond the ruckus. Let it sink to 10 ft.or so. Vary the retrieve, fast,slow, yo-yo, burn it, slow roll it. The bigger ones seem to hang out UNDER the surface poppers. Heck, even bump the bottom.
Have fun til Admiral Ahole blows through at mach four chunkin' beer cans like they were depth charges.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Don't leave a "Sandblaster" fly anywhere near the water. Almost lost a good fly rod last year, and the stupid fly was reeled up to the tip-top of the rod, just kinda hanging out of the kayak an WHAM!

I'm being totally honest here...I usually throw a popper, or a little george/rattle trap in there and you just about catch one every single time. However, one day I was talking to my dad (my fishing buddy), and I told him I bet you could throw anything in to them when they're boiling and catch a sandie. So I started off by throwing a top water frog, that you use to could buy off a fishing TV show that they fished on a louisiana lake. It was green and orange. I would catch a sandie about 6 out of 10 times with it. Then I told my dad I bet you could throw a treble hook out there and hang one. So I put a lead weight on to get some casting weight, and I threw it out there and I hung one in the gills. They're so frantically chasing shad at that point, they will run into a hook if you got one out there.

It's not uncommon at all for me to hook a sandie in the side when I throw a top water lure out there in the school. Schooling sandies could be the most chaotic event in the year.

My dad and I always get tickled about them shad. Boy don't you know a shad's butt is puckered during a schooling.

Believe it or not I have used a small weight and a hook and cuaght em that way just took my worm off my texas rig and reeled the hook in as fast as I could on top of the water and sur enuff they hit it everytime bare hook.You could put a cigarette bud on there if u want I guess.

Throw anything........even an empty hook if there boiling

Pearl shimmie shad with a 3/4 oz white triangular head. They bite it everytime.

Just about a naked hook, when they are really boiling. I love the tiny torpedos, and have never gone wrong with CC silver. Want to really have fun, add a leader with a 2nd set of hooks. Great fun!

Boatman's got it right: ANYTHIG will work just fine when they boil on top. Personally I like a Tennesse Shad crank bait. Something a little heavier will get the biguns under the schoolies.

I like a Kastmaster spoon with a single hook.

I guess you know that's illegal...but since you were conducting a scientific experiment we'll let it slide this time

Just for fun throw a pencil popper at 'em. You'd think it'd catch the bigger fish...but don't be surprised if you catch fish smaller than the lure.

My favorite for surfacing fish is a chrome Kastmaster slab with white bucktail - - casts a mile, runs shallow, and is deadly. And the small hybrids like it too if your lake has em. Cut off one of the 3 treble hooks for quicker releases. The clear Zara Puppy can be lots of fun too and will also catch small LM if they are schooling.