As I've said before, a rear-drag reel will generally (all mine do) have a rearward balance and I find them better for float rods because they move the balance point backwards and this makes them more comfortable to hold for long periods: an important consideration if your grip has been weakened, as mine has. I don't mind using a front-drag reel on shorter float rods, since they're usually more neutrally balanced in the first instance. The front-drags are perceptibly smoother, with less start-up inertia, but that isn't always the only consideration.
I struck lucky with my spessy reels - Wychwood Solace 10s - as, despite being front-drag, they're long-bodied, which means they balance the rods I use for floater fishing really well: it's like an outsize float fishing set-up. Just the job.
All things being equal, if I didn't have the hand issue all my reels would be front-drag, just for the improvement in clutch quality. That said, I don't have any rear-drag reels that are less than 10 years old, so maybe standards have improved in the meantime and I'd be pleasantly surprised by the clutches on the latest examples.
