Hey Mick,
To answer your question about fighting fish from the boat... Just make sure the gear your using suits the size fish you're targeting and have the drag set correctly.
If you have a few lines out when you hook a big fish best practice is to have a mate wind the other lines in to avoid a tangled mess when the fish gets close. If you are losing alot of line or have other boats close by you can always use the boat to close in on the fish
Always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to fisheries and bag limits