Great post !
I don't pay much for my ballhead jigs from ebay and rarely gut hook fish for the same reasons you posted as well as making sure the hook size matches the quality of fish biting my lures. Bigger crappie need a bigger hook/lure than smaller, fish otherwise gut hooking becomes more prevalent. But your retrieve like mine prevents the hook from getting stuck too deep and I believe that as the lure slides towards the lips after being sucked deep, the fish's mouth clamps down allowing strike detection followed by a slow rod sweep hook set in the lip. JMO

Again - nice insights.