You can always google up some "Draper hooks" by Partridge to give that flat wide profile. They are a discontinued item now, made by Partridge in the UK, shame they are not still making them in a way- but as you discovered there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Not great producers numbers wise...... you ever do autopsies on trout? Or do some rock rolling & netting?
Not sure what it is like in your neck of the woods, but Stones are not the most densely populated nymph on the stream bed here- tube caddis are and they will make up some 70-90% of a stomach content in your average trout here. Bigger trout learn how to target high protein meals versus spending a lot of energy gathering snacks (quicker to woof down a steak than pick up a bag full of corn chips scattered around).
That and I feel stones have a better ability to stay on the bottom and not get dislodged easily from their lair, they just are not as common tumbling down the stream, this might explain why perhaps they are not your top performers.... but do entice bigger victims.
