Take a piece of thin rubber band and tie around your line really tight. Trim the tag ends off,and you have a bobberstop that will go through the eyes on your rod without hindering your cast, and you can slide it up and down the line wherever you want. Put any kind of bobber on, with a split shot about 6-8 inches from your bait or jig, and yor bobber will slide down the line to the weight. When you cast the weight will draw the line through the bobber to the stop. If you're fishing in a stream you can keep your bait just off the bottom while you drift it.
I've done this fishing in the ocean where the waves come in over rocks,it keeps you from getting hung up.
Goout with your buddy,and you set yours at 4 feet and he tries 6 feet, then 8, 10 etc till you find the depth the fish are feeding. With this rig you can set you bobber stop at 30 feet if you want and it won't hang in your reel or make any difference casting and you can make a bunch from 1 rubber band.
Good Luck!