Yes i run drift sock or socks to keep the boat from swaying.
When your in big waves (South wind) attach your drift sock to your boat with a bungee – that keeps the bag from deflating from swells.
I keep two sizes in the boat and sometimes run both. They’re probably 18″ and 22″.
A month ago I was fishing on the main channel on pool 4 and the flow was so low that even with a drift sock out I was getting blown back upstream with a light breeze.
Ain’t that the truth!
I haven’t dropped two anchors in over 5 years I’d bet. I tend to not fish areas without current just for this reason as boat control is an absolute pet peeve of mine. I also don’t fish night locations which are often slow in current.
There’s a time and place for spotlock and lighter weights also. I call them ‘blow back’ weights where the amount of weight used is light enough that the light current will continually ‘blow the weight back’ to a tight line while swaying.
I’ll also go vertical in zero current conditions and use a spot. Catfish can also suspend and do especially with lower current, so dead sticking or even bobber fishing your set rigs can be advantageous.
Cat bite sucked this year with lack of current so i did not spend much time at all at it.