Personally can't stand clear drift style floats. One good smack on a rock and they crack and fill with water. However, I do believe in fishing whatever gives you confidence, so if they give you that fishy feeling, then you should fish them. I prefer DNE or cork floats.
I am a huge fan of the duo-lock system. I typically have a blue foam leader board in my chest pocket with 6 or so pretied rigs with swivels on them. I will change up what is on the leader board depending on the water conditions (size, color). Generally I'm a fan of soft beads 12-20mm, rubber worms, jigs, and of course spawn sacks. Depending on the run and what kind of mood I'm in I'll switch up my presentation. If it's a super fishy run, I'll go through it a 2nd or even 3rd time with a different presentation. Super quick and easy with the duo lock system.
Downside of the duo-lock quick change system is it is one more thing to foul up/fail. Before I chuck a cast I take a quick look at it as from time to time the swivel will get wrapped up in the duo-lock and needs to be sorted out. For me, cost/benefit wise, this quick change system is the only way to go. Buddy of mine who does quite well for steel pretty much fishes skein roe or roe bags, so it makes more sense for him to skip the duo lock and just use a barrel swivel between the mainline and leader.
I like the look of 3 big split shot (about 22-23g) above my swivel, although I do not think it matters one bit to the fish. Just gives me confidence. Buddy who is a steelhead slayer uses the rubber tubing and pencil lead system, which I can't stand the look of.
End of the day fish what you have confidence in and the floats will start dropping.