Hey there Thudpucker - you must have been in the boy scouts for that is where I learned to tie the bowline. It will hold like hell on a hook but the only trouble is that one has to tie it real close to the eye since it won't slide like a slip knot. 99% of the fishing knots we tie are a version of one form or another of a slip knot. Otherwise one couldn't clinch in down. BTW I hear that the bowline was a favorite on the old sailing ships. So was the clove hitch, timber hitch, etc.
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