I'd back up the wind issues with bubble floats also they can be hard to fill up if you cant get down to the waters edge, I still keep some in my jacket pocket though as they can still do a decent job are pretty robust and cheaper than controller floats, some cheap ones can have rough plastic holes which isn't good
A large banded matchstick or small bit of balsa with small shot gently squeezed on either side inline can get out a decent distance if the fish are closer in, wetting the bait if it's mixer or bread will also double the casting weight, with no or little disturbance you can cast into a shoal and get one on the nose so to speak, if you're fishing at range disregard all that though