Abstract: A method of attaching a line to a hooked item such as a fishing hook, plug, gig, lure or spoon. Each hooked item includes an elongated shank and an open-ended slot disposed contiguous with one end of the shank. Formed when the material from which the shank is fabricated is bent back upon itself, the slot is tapered, having a slight divergence toward the open end of the slot. For a particular slot, a line having a transverse cross-section with a radius approximately equal to the radius of curvature of the closed end of the slot is employed; but because of the tapered slot, each slot size can be used with a wide range of line sizes. To attach the line to the hooked item, one simply places an end of the line through the slot, runs a portion of the line past the slot along the shank, wraps the line extending beyond this portion around it and the shank, and finally pulls the free end of the line into the slot and towards the closed end thereof of the slot.