How do I draw a tapered curve, something like this (this is imported from an STL):
1- I’m not sure if there’s a better way of drawing a curve then connecting a bunch of arcs together,
2- how do I give it a tapered profile?
I’d use Taper Maker which you can find in the Extension Warehouse.
Check these plugins: Curviloft and CurviShear
Also this plugin might useful for drawing curvy splines: BezierSpline
OK, this is pretty dang cool:
Now I need to draw a better curve
LOL, now I have a debate, DaveR’s answer completely covers what I need… yours lets me do things I wasn’t considering 
Select the answer that solves the exact question you asked. The point of marking a solution is to make it easier for others who might come along with the same question to find the answer.
Here’s a curviloft for comparison.
My intent was slightly different, use Curvishear first then use skinning feature of Curviloft.
fredo6 demonstrates it in his topic there:
I find Curviloft’s skinning feature very useful for lots of cases.
Use both plugins and decide yourself 
Is that a fish hook?
Yea, but I just don’t want to shut down the conversation, since I’m learning and seeing possibilities that I didn’t have in my head when I started this.
My 5y/o wants to be a pirate for haloween so I’m 3d printing him some accessories, I made the handle with a square socket in the top and now I’m adding a snap-in hook (quick and dirty on a virgin install of sketchup, my regular laptop died and I’m waiting for parts):
I know you got the answers you were looking for but you maybe feel like taking a look at this another topic in which I asked about how to draw a 3D hook (it’s has not the same purpose so the result is not the same, but you can get some ideas).