where do most of u folks place your dpwnriggers on your boats? close to the back or more forward.

I have mine about 3' from the transom on my 15' boat and that works great for me. But placement may be differant depending on the boat. You need easy access to them.

put them as far to the stern as possible and still be able to get to them. Another consideration is how stout the mounting area is and how easy to it would be to reinforce the area if needed. Also look at how easy it will be to get power to the downriggers. You may not have electrics now, but you will eventually, you will......

baddawg has it right close to the back as possible. It will help keep your lines away from the prop. When fishing in heavy current or trolling at a faster speed and turning. Allways double check to make sure where you mounting them is stong enough and that you can still get at them to connect the release and put the ball in the water.

You will want to mount them near the stern as much as possible while still having them in a place that is braced well and is convenient to get to.

I put my driver side down rigger even with the steering wheel so I can see my rod, steer the boat, and adjust my trolling depth all at once. I put the passenger down rigger near the stern and out of my way.

Put them as close to the stern of the boat as possible and as far apart as possible. If you put them forward of the stern then in a strong tide you're likely to end up with your downrigger cable in your prop on a turn.

Aywhere in the aft 1/3 of the boat should be fine. Keep in mind that you'll want to be able to stand aft of your wires. This will avoid tangles with the release and you having to lean out further over the side. Additionally, visualize where you would think your wires would be at a 45 degreee turn if you had to turn. Not only does this keep the wires out of the prop, but keep you out of the way of all them knuckleheads [at Pt Defiance..]. Not to mention you may want to work a bait ball. Turning sharper than normal will put you back in the area a lot quicker.

Lastly....as far as rod holder placement. The further forward you can get them, the better. By putting the rods forward of the downrigger, you will be creating less bow in the mono and a shorther distance in slack line once the fish comes off the release...

Strong tides and rips... Avoid them period...
You're setting yourself up for failure from the get go. Not only are these spot generally void of Blackmouth, but if you hang up on the bottom in a strong tide, there big trouble brewing for you and the folks onboard...

Always keep a good pair of wire cutters handy.

And put them the same distance forward of the stern - if you put one forward of the other, when you turn in the direction of the aft downrigger your gear will hang up on it

Downriggin, I'll agree with everything you said except that last paragraph, "strong currents and rips void of blackmouth"? I've fished 2 spots in Ak. that are very similar to river fishing, 1) Bell Island, near Ketchikan (same spot the currentl world record steelhead came from) in July kings stack up here at the mouth of the Unik river, for about 2 weeks this spot produces alot of big fish.
2) Ulloa channel, a narrow passage on the west side of P.O.W. Is. at times the tide will run 6-8kts. thru there, I don't fish it alot because it is a tackle grabber but I do take kings out of this spot every year.
3) How about Pt. Defiance? some pretty good rips there, back when I used to fish it I took alot of blackmouth/kings out of there.

AK,

Please reread my post... "generally."

There are a few spots out pass the rip between the Pt and Gig Harbor that will hold fish at times because bait will drop into the holes. (Used to be a good bottomfish spot too.) However, you won't find me competing with a lot of other boats too often for a couple handfuls of salmon at Pt Defiance. I might be there in the fall/winter (once or twice) and 15-31 July, but after that, I am south. You'll find me at the girl scout camp, Quartermaster Harbor or the far east end of the slag pile away from the competition. It is far easier to catch a fish by yourself in a spot where there are 10 fish than 70 fish and 400 lines in the water (figuratively speaking...).

I'll get a lot of slack for this... Point Defiance is over-rated folks! Well, at least 50 weeks out of the year....

Yeah, I saw the generally, I also saw the "avoid them period", which got my attention.