I have a lot of jigs and flies for salmon that are just a head and a big flair of either marabou or hackle. I was thinking this might work for crappie and bass, maybe blue gill.

Is there any reason it won't work? A wide palmered hackle or marabou right up tight to the jig head. Are there any drawbacks to doing this? Would it be better to put a small body down the shank and cover with a flair? Better to have a short body and then do the flair over the hook point?

Big question, do you think it would result in a lot of side and short bites because of the wide flair all the way around? How wide is too wide to help prevent a lot of short or side hits? Maybe keep the palmer less straight out but more angled toward the hook point? Have the palmer just as wide as the hook gap?