I was fishing with a small spinner and showed him several times that it's easier to get a clean c+r hook set when a fish strikes hardware rather than swallowing hook and bait.
That's good advice. We try to encourage using a spinner, spoon, or other lure over the "powerbait method" to c&r trout fishing. However, since it is SO very common, we have been working hard to fine-tune this method to get the survival rate up on released fish. So if anyone is interested, a lure is the better choice, but, the thing that has been working for us is described below:
1. We use the Gulp! Floating Salmon eggs since a) they are biodegradable and b) they stay on the hook better allowing for a single hook as opposed to a treble hook often used with dough baits. This bait is the same powerbait scent and is just as effective as typical powerbait... if not more so. We use a pink/red in warmer/visible water and chartreuse/fluorescent orange in colder/darker water.
2. We use very small, thin wire circle hooks. I was skeptical about the effectiveness of circle hooks for small species at first, however, they really work. We use a #10 Eagle Claw L702 circle hook with two Gulp! floating salmon eggs (you need 2 to float the hook properly). Our rig is your typical egg sinker, swivel, leader, hook.
Using the above method, we have been hooking a MUCH higher percentage of the pellet heads shallowly in the mouth instead of the gut. I don't have numbers as we have only been doing casual experimentation, but, it's noticeable right away. Those circle hooks really have made a difference for us.