Fish harvesters use colorful plastic lures called jigs or live bait, trailed at moderate speeds behind their vessels, to catch albacore tuna. Each fish is individually hooked.  Once hooked, the fish is pulled in close behind the vessel with a hydraulic puller. Harvesters then haul in each tuna by hand for the last few feet to get it close enough to the vessel to be lifted aboard.

Trolling is a slow and selective method of harvesting tuna. Albacore tuna vessels average from 35 to 60 feet (10 to 18 metres) in length and have a captain and one or two crew. Trollers usually fish offshore and can stay at sea for weeks at a time, searching for areas where Albacore school and feed. The coastal fleet fishes within Canadian and U.S. fishing zones under the US/Canada Tuna Treaty and a high-seas fleet operates thousands of miles away in the North Pacific.

The most distinct feature of a troller is its long poles or outriggers which are secured to its mast by a crosstree. When fishing, the poles are spread apart forming a v-shape. The poles prevent the lines and jigs from tangling while trolling at up to six knots (7 km/h). Fishermen can have from 8 to 14 lines in the water at once.