A few questions on fishing in my area. Gulf of mexico.

[Garrett M]

Ok so here in the gulf it doesnt get very deep off our beach, and yes there is a sand bar about 50 or 100 yards out if that makes a difference.

Firstly can anyone give me some info on how to float a bait? How to attach float and how much line to have under the float?

Secondly, does anyone ever use canned Mackeral as chum? We never keep our bi catch or left overs from off shore (which I will start doing).

Thanks