The basic floating rig is setup with a bobber, a split shot for the weight and a hook with your bait. This technique may work well for smaller to medium-sized striped bass, but for the real big stripers, anglers change this up a little bit. Anglers will use much bigger bobbers than what you see in the image to the left and they may or may not add a weight. If they are using a 6 to 10 inch shad for bait, which is very common, they will probably fish the bait under a balloon with a slow troll. You can add a heavier weight to the balloon rig or you can let the shad swim free. Both ways are productive. It just depends where the stripers are feeding in the water column.
