I haven't fished for ling with a float on the jetty but floats work great for perch and bass. Any common bait for both with curly tails and white worms being bass killers.

Size can make a huge difference out there as my dad proved many years ago. We were using large worms and not getting much and dad switched to 1 inch tiny white worms and killed them. Don't know for sure if a small worm will work as well under a float but always worth having with you.