In normal clarity I use a 6’ leader. Longer if the water is really clear. The trick on telling whether you have a fish on or not is to use matching rods, at least on 1 side of the boat. The one that acts different has a fish on. If you are only gonna run a few board rods, I would run them all on 1 side of the boat. You are ahead to run four or 5 on 1 side as to have 2 & 2 or 2 & 3. With tru trips they should plane up to the top.