Long rods are definitly the key to fishing floats and jigs properly. If the fish you are losing are coming unhooked a little trick I use is pinching the barbs on the jig hooks, either halfway down to the shank or all the way down. Half way down will still give you some barb to work with if you are concerned about not having a barb. I've found that you will land more fish without a barb then you will if you keep the barb on the hook due to the better penetration you'll get with the hookset. I keep my drag really tight while I'm fishing so the drag will not slip on the set then loosen it after the fish is hooked and fight the fish on a fairly loose drag. You are always going to loose some fish, but with a jig and float setup you should be landing 75+% of the fish you hook.