Page 144 - Mario Bigon "The Morrow Guide to Knots"

Joining a hook to a line is an admirable work of ingenuity,
imagination, and perfection. The result is a small, barely
distinguishable lump of line drawn up into a neat, tight roll.
hiding the experience gathered over thousands of years; so it
should come as no surprise that there is such a variety of knots
used for this purpose. The size of the hook, its shape, the type
of line, and many other details, which may at first appear
irrelevant, combine to tell the expert angler whether to use one
knot or another to give him a perfectly harmonious fusing of
hook and line.
There are basically two types of fishing hooks: those with
an eye at the end and those without. and there are different
knots for each of these types. Technically speaking, fishing
knots do not constitute a new category but simply a
regrouping according to the use for which they are intended.
As we shall see, all hook knots fall into the categories that have
already been discussed: they can be classified as stopper
knots, hitches, loops, etc.
For the sake of clarity we have used large hooks and heavy
rope in the illustrations in this chapter instead of the materials
familiar to anglers. This will make the movements and the
structure of the knots simpler to follow, but obviously a great
deal of practice and subtlety of movement will be needed
when working with small hooks and gut.