Have you tried reinforcing the wire? I do this with my 1/4oz spinnerbaits using a bobbin of old braid I pull off my reels. I have circled the spot I do this on one of your pictures; all I do is tie a knot on the wire and then wrap around the two wires making a thin band and then tying to off after making several passes. To give it a cleaner look, you can easily paint on some epoxy or even some super glue on to the braid.
Just an option for you if you want to give it a try!
No, I've not done that, but have seen spinnerbaits where others tie or wrap at that spot. I recall someone say that they prefer the R bend wire, but attached to the lure with a clip, so that's why they tied it closed. I'm not a fan of clips, and a good knot works fine.
I have both the twisted wire type forms & the R bends, so having to reinforce that area has not been any issue. When I said they get bent up, it's been the straight shaft sections between the line tie & the head, or between the line tie & the blades, that gets bent. They will get bent sideways too at the line tie area, but that happens with either type of wire. These smaller wires just seem more prone to getting bent since the wire is a much finer diameter.
I've caught a lot of different fish on these small spinnerbaits, so worth making a lot of them. None of them last forever anyway, so I just make more. I will salvage the parts & re-melt the lead if they're too bent, so, not a complete loss.
