I first want to say that I think you should do what you have confidence in. I also want to throw no stones at Richard Gene as he has more time to fish than I've ever had. Years ago, when I chased green fish, I missed a lot of fish while using plastic worms. Frustrated wouldn't come close. So I tried do replicate what happens when I set the hook and pulled. The hook, being flat, pulled between my fingers. So I pulled the hook point away from the shank and tried again, with the same result. So I then took a pair of pliers and bent the hook a few degrees to one side, so that it could no longer sit flat when lying on the table. Now it was a can't miss deal for one lip or the other. Hence, this is where my confidence lies. Later on a few years, Eagle Claw came out with a variation of my idea of a hook with a bend in the shaft, called the 45 automatic. It was designed to rotate the hook 45* as it was pulled between the lips, worked every time.

We present our hooks more consistently in a vertical orientation. I can see that opening the hook could have it's benefits, but it wasn't that for me. I did catch a few more fish but I also lost a lot more jigs, especially around grabby stuff. There was no dragging a jig over a branch and having it drop down the other side cuz it found purchase along the way. What did consistently up my catch rate was sickle hooks. Being sharper than most conventional hooks, they touch flesh and bury and hold on. Better than anything else I have tried. Where I used to lose jigs with a #4 hook, I now stick fish with a #6 and keep the fish and don't lose the jig in the trash because of the smaller gap. A lot of the fish I catch have the jig deep in their mouth and I need hemostats to get it back. That's the best I can explain what rattles around in my head when I get on this subject. Just my opinion and a little research, but nothing I can say can beat whatever it is that you have confidence in.