I am not a proud man but....

[MichaelAngelo]

Great thread! To throw in an example about floats from my experience...

I used to use only the round red/white bobbers, when drifting a bait in current it would be difficult to tell if the bait was dragging along the bottom. Using a long, thin float I can easily tell when the bait is dragging because the float tips right over. Big advantage right there.