It can get very crowded at some of the rigs that tuna like to haunt. On the day that Wall and Ballavares put Pelas and Bruce on their fish, eight boats were working the same fish at the same rig.
Worsening the crowding is the fact that the largest numbers of tuna, by far, congregate on one side of a rig, the up-current side. One discourteous fisherman can cause tempers to flare.
Will Wall offered some pointers on courtesy.
• Don’t cross lines with your boat behind someone else with lines out.
• Don’t throw poppers over other peoples lines out, no matter how much tuna are busting the surface.
• Keep your radio on channel 68. If someone has a fish on and running toward you, they can call in time for you to move out of the way.
• If you see tuna busting the surface, don’t run on top of them. Doing so will get you cursed out. Instead, ease up to them to throw your popper by moving the boat in and out of gear.
• Hit the biggest hole available when moving your boat back toward a rig to re-set your lines.
• Generally, boats move bow into the current on the up-current side of a rig. Getting your boat crossways to the other boats is considered bad form.
