The OP's question is a good one. But, as is often the case, a bit more information would give people replying a better clue what to put in their comments. What species are you after? Are you expecting timid or bold bites? Are you fishing across a wide river with strong flow? A small river with little flow? Some other combination of size and current? As has been said, a stiffish tip and a lead that just holds is the way to go on rivers with a bit of pace and will get drop-back bites when the weight's dislodged. But it's not so effective on slacker water. Btw, when you're trying to get a just-holding weight right, raising or lowering your rod rest to hold more or less line out of the water is the way to "tune" when you've picked a weight that's more or less right it. Lowering the rest will encourage it to move, raising it helps it hold. On smaller rivers, touch-legering - draw a bit of line away from your rod and feel what's going on through your fingers - can be a good way to catch chub from whatever angle, and a pretty exciting form of bite indication.