Lightwire and Sickles are both great for long line trolling. I am partial to the Sickles because I do more than just long line troll with the same jig heads (dock shooting, spider rigging, single pole jigging). While I may lose one or two they will come unhung better than regular round bend jig hooks. The bend in the Sickle helps it give enough to come free most of the time, but then again I ain't scared to lose one or retie once in a while. Even dock shooting, Sickles can be freed with out much effort. You asked about more than just hook style. Round heads, tri-heads/minnow heads, bullet heads, and pony heads all have their advantages and also personal preference falls in line again. Jig heads of different styles will weigh differently compared to the same "advertised" weight of a different style head. Most of the round and bullet style heads will weigh closer to "advertised" weight and tri/minnow heads will be a little heavier than "advertised". The key is not as much which is better, but to be consistent with what YOU use. Trolling different heads mixed in your spread will make knowing "approximately" how deep you are trolling difficult. With all the variables in long line trolling to get to a target depth, help yourself out and pick one style in different "weights" (1/48, 1/32, 1/16 etc) and learn how they do for YOU. Here is another trick for when you want to make a jig ride a little higher than it normally runs, add a minnow. We used some of my Tasers in 1/32 and 1/16 at hot water last weekend tipped with a minnow and did very well amongst all the other trollers in there. Cool thing about this time of year is it is a great time to go out and try different things while trolling to see how they work and you will usually catch fish just about everyway you try.