I am very much a novice at long lining. I have been with 3 different guys and they all had a little different setup.

I tried long lining with 2 different length poles, using 4 in the front off one side and 4 in the back off the other. I wound up with a mess, or maybe I should say a MESS.

With two people in the boat, I settled on one 16', one 12', one 10' and one 8' pole on each of the 4 rod holders. That keeps most of the messes at bay unless I catch a stripe or a larger bass.

I will wind up using a 16, 14, 12 and 10 as I catch considerably less fish on the 8 footer running close to the boat. I've primarly been fishing shallow so the jig or jigs on that 8 foot pole on the front deck are barely past the transom.

I've got the poles set straight out the sides, tips close to the water. I like that better than poles out the back.