Been fishing for Moki quite a bit lately, and the main problem is crayfish stealing my bait.

I have learned to recognize their strike, the rod would shack and wiggle for a while then stop. Have also landed a handful over the last few weeks. Last night I was getting a crayfish strike every 5 minutes or so after casting...

Any ideas on how to stop them from taking my bait, I also suspect they try and drag it back into their holes which increases snags even further.

I am thinking...

Using floats, to keep it away from them.
Using a long gap between my sinker and my first hook, again to keep the bait off the bottom.