Given that is it fair to say they are light weight enough that they are best reserved for gills etc.?....or have you found them to be pretty strong?
Phil,

They are light wire and are usually labeled as "panfish hooks" but they are strong enough as I have never had one straighten out. I guess I could probably purposely straighten one with enough torque. Being light wire, they lend themselves to surface patterns better but can be also used for subsurface maybe with a little weight added. I don't see why you couldn't use them for "some" trout patterns though that use a little longer shanks. One nice thing about Aberdeens is that most of them are almost always consistent in hook gap sizes unlike other hooks. For instance I can take a Mustad 9672 size 8 and an Aberdeen size 8, set them on a table and the Aberdeen will fit inside the Mustad both of the same size. But if I compare a Mustad 9672 size 10 to the Aberdeen size 8, they are the same size in hook gap size and shank length. Aberdeens seem to usually be one size smaller than most other hook sizes so hook gap size comparisons (not hook styles) can be made based on Aberdeen sizes provided that all Aberdeens are created equal . Another reason I don't use hook charts but I would not recommend to others that the Aberdeen method be used due to the possibility of variation in Aberdeen hook sizes.