Jigs and floats can be extremely deadly and should be a part of everyones arsenal. The keys are proper presentation and size and color of the jig. It's important that the jig be fished at as close to a dead drift as possible, you don't want the jig being pulled down the river by the current which is going to mean controlling the line from the rod to the float. A long rod is a must for most jig fishing situations(10 1/2 foot or longer). You can get away with shorter rods on small rivers but for most situations a long rod is a plus, you want to keep the line from the rod to the float upstream of the float for a proper drift. Jigs are usually fished close to the bottom but not on the bottom....fish in warmer water(summer time) will move alot farther for a jig than fish in cold water so you can fish jigs in the summer farther up in the water column than you would in the winter where it pays to have the jig closer to the fish, but as a general rule a foot off the bottom works well. As for sizes of jigs smaller works better in slower water conditions and in heavier flows I'll go to a heavier jig. As a general rule use smaller darker jigs in the summer time when flows are down and heavier lighter colored jigs in heavier flows that are encountered in late fall and winter. We had low flows last winter and found the fish to prefer small dark jigs that we would usually consider to be choices for summer fish...it pays to experiment with jig colors at times, though I usually run 1/4 oz in the winter and 1/8th or 1/16th oz in the summer. As for floats most anything will work though I prefer an oval stemmed float such as a Thill, which can be rigged fixed or slip. Use a good quality line and you should be set. Hope this helps!