Well with a 2 rod limit per person say you got 5 people on the boat your looking at 10 lines out all together. You can do 4 lines each off the boards with 2 dipsey rods off the back. Sometimes with high waves its hard to manage 2 big boards so a lot of times I use one big board throw 3 - 4 lines on it then double up the dipseys 2 on each side for a total of 4, then on the non big board side you could do 2 inline (small) boards. There are a ton of options but you can never have too many rod holders or rods and reels. As far as how far the line goes out for the big board its more of a feel and how the board works. Too far out can give you slack in the line where it drags in the water, to close and you might not feel comfortable putting 4 lines out on one board. The most lines I usually have out is 10.