On TRUE long range trips, those going for over a week to two whole weeks and putting a thousand miles and often much more under the keel, you are targeting (or hoping to target) very large yellowfin tuna and big warm-water yellowtail and fat groupers and such, and it is not uncommon to use big macks and skipjacks and such for bait.
Local trips to four or five days are going to be on our offshore banks and islands in colder water and while yellowtail are often caught too, the primary prey is bluefin tuna and the bait usually used is sardines.
The gear suggested for the different trips is because the prey is different, in the same way that you would likely be using a heavier rifle for an African hunt than you would need for a deer or elk hunt in the States. You certainly can take a .338 or bigger on your elk hunt, but the extra weight you are carrying can be hard on you. And not really necessary. That is like the difference between a 16 and a 20 if you are putting in the hours at the rail that you will need to locally. There are a handful of really big tuna caught locally every week. A handful, out of hundreds of tuna that are fought. I play the odds.
