how and where you put your holders is something that each boat captain has to decide on since his boat is unique to his situation. theres so many tbar configurations out there it will make you scratch your head. before you drill any holes make sure you puttin em where you want em. you dont want to mount em only to discover youd rather have em a few inches in one direction or another to make em easier to use. the rest of the guys on my boat are younger fellers who have quick reflexes and have no problems gettin to any rod that needs attention. im slow so i want to sit almost on top of my rods to make em easier to tend to without having to get out of my seat. :D 4 sometimes 6 rods is all i wanna watch on a nightstalk. on fiberglass boats i wouldnt use sheet metal screws on the bases. use bolts instead. all the tbars on my boat are made out of 3/4 in water pipe, mounted to pipe flanges bolted to the boat. if you go that route MAKE SURE YOU PUT AT LEAST A 1/8TH IN ALUMINUM PLATE UNDER THE FLANGES TO KEEP THE PIPE FROM DIGGIN INTO THE BOAT when you tighten em up. if you ever take em off you will have a ugly mark where the pipe dug into your boat. I carry a pipe wrench to make any adjustments i need to make. also mounting the flanges at key locations i can move the rod racks as driftfishing for catfish or downlining for striper, the rods need to be in a different configuration than when im nightstalking.
on my boat gabowman i have a pole at the very front we hang one lantern off of. at the console we hang two lanterns off the top of the console, one tilted toward the back and one toward the front. im guessin they are about 7 or 8 ft high. the lantern at the very front is about 7 ft. ive used clamp ons,(which i prefer due to the ease of setting em up, propanes with big tanks and went back to the lanterns. we dont do all that much fishing through the hot summer months so bugs on most nights arent a problem. sometimes they can be a pain though and when they are present we live with the aggravation. the only times we have a problem with anchor ropes is when catfishing for big fish. occasionally a fish will find one and present some problems. when i used to fish off the back i had lines within a few inches either side of that rope and occasionally one would wrap, but not often. off the front we have no rods near the anchor rope so its not a problem up there. good luck. you got about a month and half to get it all sorted out and get ready :D