Drew, don't over think the rigging and be overly concerned with stealth towards the end of your line, especially in typical winter conditions. Low and clear/summer, sure, making a few changes and trying to dial up the stealth a bit can benefit you.

This time of year, I typically fish an 18" to 20" leader below my keel sinker with braid for a mainline and fish eat stuff on the end of that more than enough to keep me happy.

As for methods besides jig heads and bobber dogging, I think a few have mentioned the worm/egg sinker/baitweight option. This is convenient if you pre-rig your worms on leaders and tend to switch back and forth between dragging the bottom and float fishing as you can switch a corky for a sinker pretty quick on your leaders. I powder coat (pink of course) small worm sinkers and egg sinkers that work well for this application and for bait under bobber rigs also.