Oviously even a bare hook has some weight to it. Add some bait and it gets "heavier" no?
With no drift, the bait isn't really going to "float" unless you place something bouyant on it.
So you're out drifting and have 8ozs on and drift picks up. Now the 8oz is not holding and as you drift along it raises up..."can't hold bottom" is a cry you hear alot of times.
So how is the baited hook going to "sink" if an 8oz sinker won't hold?
The longer the leader, the higher it'll raise is what I've seen/experienced.
Just look at trolling, sometimes you need downriggers to get it down as moving through the water quickly, the baits will tend to rise no?