Now these are good questions, but there is really not a solid answer.
Here is a situation that is similar .I happen to be a fan of some of the smallest Grizzly Jig patterns. I tip all them with wax worms. I had the same doubts some of you have.
To test this I took a tiny salmon egg hook and used it bare w/ wax worm under the same conditions as the grizzly jigs. I still caught fish with the bare hook, but most often smaller and less in numbers. Switched back to the jigs and was gifted with larger fish and more of them.

Long answer to short question-- When you find a system that is working
, (and it sounds like the spoons are doing that) stick with it .
Thank you for being thoughtfull enough to share, I might give those spoons a try also.Mike