fishinfiend,
A really helpful trick is to use some left over fluke bait (spearing, sandeels, etc) chop them up and toss them over a few at a time as chum. Mackeral are like baby tuna and to keep them by your hooks you need to keep them chumed up. I use a meat grinder and toss in herring or even a few mackeral from the previous trip. I freeze it in a plastic container then slip it into a lobster bait bag tied to the rail when fishing. This would really give you the edge (and those next to you) on a party boat. You can even slice up a few macks into small strips and toss the strips over.
When you buy the sabiki rigs, look for the ones built with 20lb test hook lines and 30 lbs test main line. I found that the lighter lines don't stand up well to the sandpaper teeth of the macks and you 6 hook righ quickly becomes a 1 or no hook rig.
Remember to take only what you will use. It is easy to get carried away filling the coolers.
Capt. Marc