I'v done well on long hairs over the years, even on pop ups, one of my best sessions came while using a 2inch gap between hook and bait with the hook 3inches of the deck, all were hooked solid and bang dead centre , and one had the bait cut off.....this I guessed was because the bait had been taken back into the teeth.............now a bit of a ramble as its hard to write what I think, but, the mass (?) of the bait is affected far greater when blown out then the mass of the hook ( or is it drag?? something anyway), so when the bait goes in further with the hook, the hook stays in longer(milliseconds) until the bait is ejected which I believe gives a better chance for the hook to turn and take a hold.
One thing that I know for sure is that while using long hairs I hardly ever have hook pulls.