Russ,
Have you tried experimenting with the EC413 60* jig hook? They seem to get a bit of promotion around here by guys who are trying to "turn over" their bugs. They seem to have great success with clousers and other weighted patterns especially.
We use your trim method and add a weedless wire (not EC413) for tossing together some of our bass bugs that we toss into the slop and poop. Hook point up is a great advantage for that.
......lee s.