If it's your first trip, I'm on the side that says learning how to pitch bait into the chumline, finessing a flyline bait and working through the tuna shuffle is a must. This is a fundamental skill that's needed for the rest of your tuna fishing existence from larger boats. You will eventually learn the skills and tricks to help you thrive in open party warfare. Lures can also work great, but you have to know when. Use a swimbait for cheater troll or cast a swimbait/megabait/coltsniper/tideminnow on the slide after a jig strike. When the boat settles in for the drift, work the jigs on the way down and on the retrieve while experimenting with retrieve speed depending on the lure. Always keep an eye out for what other jigs/lures are working and switch! Poppers on spinning gear have also been tearing it up.
The flat fall jig for example has been frustrating for me. Thrown into boils and no love. Grind, no love. But a slow wind retrieve, got bit. But then again, the guy next to me tells me he's been hit on the grind. That's fishing...
Either way good luck to you out there and remember to eat the heart!
