Fishing
Inspiration is like fishing, some days you're catching a bounty of bluegills while others you're waiting on a full hook with nothing but a few curious biters under the water. Fish also bite based on the weather. It's said they are the most willing before it rains and uninterested in cold fall temperatures. I believe these so-called old wives’ tales as my luck has undulated based on these factors. Find what circumstances make you tick, it doesn't matter if you're thinking of it from the perspective of the person or the fish. Is the worm too big? Is the weather too brisk? Are you too impatient? It's best you investigate all avenues, put a pin in every possibility on your mental corkboard. One day you'll come back to it and realize fish don't just like worms, they like cheese too, it turns out you can catch larger fish in colder temperatures, and boredom leading to impatience is just an illusion.
Sometimes putting your feet in the cold water can be a soothing relief on slow days, you can observe its smooth ripples that distort the figures of small fish below. You can look for big mouth bass that swim by and never bite at the hook, bringing a moment of adrenaline that maybe this will be the exception before their silver green bodies flash past. Aquatic plants below your feet part to its streamlined body. They are often tall and green enough to change the color of the lake when you look at them closely. The lake has a calm mood all to itself, providing a reassuring feeling that patient contemplation will lead to a catch. There's much to be said about the personality of lakes, they each have a unique one that's hard to read if not observed by the scope of a lake grass blade.
Soon you'll have days when your bite ratio is better, but still a painful disappointment. Several fish will float a hair’s length from the hook, taking rabbit bites every twenty minutes. They do this but never go all the way, only looking on with mild curiosity or spurning the old worm when you bring it to their hard lips. Their actions are comical. Each individual has their unique motives. The steady onlookers bite hard before rain, the spurners only take their chance when curious schools don't crowd the bait, and curious biters don't go for the hook at all.
When the environment is right a bountiful harvest is nigh. Small panfish will come by the dozens, being filled in large buckets and dumped back into the lake after a final count. The catches are short and sweet, a simple tug and reel to catch the fish out of the clear water. There's no time for long contemplation, there's no profiling of fish personalities. It's all watching for a bite and pulling up. Quick thinking. The only priority is fast reflexes and deep concentration on the action below, a fast-paced pondering, and the more you ponder the sooner you'll realize that fishing is not about catching fish at all.