Most of these suggestions have probably been posted, but I suggest them anyway. My personal opinion and in my experience dictate these.

I am a bank fisherman. I just bought a set of panfish magnets from BPS so I want to give those try. Perhaps under a bobber and casting, although I suspect I wont be casting those 1/64 oz jig heads very far.
Crappie Magnets cast a good distance even using 1/64 oz. I go with 1/32, 1/24, 1/16 oz. jigs. Forget the float with lures that heavy.


I'm not sure about Beetle Spins as I have my own spinner arms to attach to jig heads and I use curly tail grubs.
Curl tails and straight tail grubs catch fish using the B.Spin. The size of the jig head and plastic lure is important !


In your opinion, how effective is the split-tail beetle? Wondering if anyone has tried used the beetle bodies by themselves? trying to cast/retrieve?
Like any small lure, split tails and spike tails work great when rigged on light ball heads jigs and fan cast at the right depth.

Colors:
Not a fan of red* or black when it comes to small plastics. There are more colors that work than you can shake a fishing rod at. (* red or black body/ chartreuse tail is okay). The color selection on CrappieMagnet.com are all you ever need to chose from with 1 or 2 that will work for most soft plastics 100 % of the time. I even do well using clear color plastic:



Float fishing:
I've been using hair jigs under a float since last year and done well. Magnets also have their moments, curl tails not at all. Remember to set the proper depth fish are hitting depending on the depth fished. I could be 1.5' or 3' under the float - discover which.
Tied a hair jig using my dog's hair under a float:


Crankbaits:
There are Rapala floating crankbaits that do well as well as some small medium divers.


Line:
My preference is braid. KastKing (Ebay) 8# test/2 # diameter. Casts far from a spincast or spinning reel; sensitive to the strike; no stretch; no memory (no curls to screw up the reel). Some use fluorocarbon leaders, but if I find fish, I catch fish using braid.

Important note:
lure size, lure action, presentation (retrieve type and speed) are the most important considerations. Find lures that catch fish and always carry a few. There are hundreds to chose from.

Good luck.