The snap method of tying a bowline is my favourite. In nice rope it looks really fancy and can be done mostly from muscle memory (except remembering to pass the free end through from the backside to avoid a shameful cowboy bowline).

I found myself in a similar situation taking my kids crab fishing. We were quite high above the water so I was trying to tie the thin string on the net to the bucket so we could lower it into the water to fill it. After trying to think of the fancy way of doing it I just went with doubling up the string and tying a round turn and two half hitches, an embarrassingly simple knot which has most of the advantages of anything more complex.

If you can’t tie a knot, tie a lot