The perfect storm

If conditions were ever going to be perfect this was going to be it. Right time of year, right water temperature, full moon, clear water, storm front moving in, jeepers it doesn't get any better than that. There was just one problem, by the time I got off work there was only going to be a few hours of daylight left. And THE SPOT was the spot because it was a royal pain to get to and if it took an hour to get there and an hour to get out what was I going to fish, a half hour?
The answer was to spend the night at the spot and thus fish till dark and get out in the morning.  But there was a front blowing in. Mid thirties for the low. Correction MID THIRTIES and RAIN! Did I mention to me this seemed like the best day of the year to fish?
So I loaded the yak with a tarp, rope, a rain parka and my insulated bibs I deer hunt in. Shelter was as fast as I could put one up. Three poles tied together in  a tripod, two legs five or six feet long and the third maybe fifteen. Over the long leg I tied the tarp and out front piled as much firewood as I could get. Good enough time to fish.
OMG. Right on the edge of the riffle you could literally see smallmouth chasing minnows, flashing in the clear water and two small 7 or 8 inch fish clearing the water they were slashing at bait so hard. Five minutes in and the medium fast action Little Miami Rod was bent into a C as a giant smallmouth ripped off drag. A minute or two later it came off right at my feet, and I remember thinking well there went my chance. Wrong. The last hour till dark was one long feeding frenzy with I dunno three or four more fish Ohio were landed. Including the big girl you see in two photos. All on a smoke metalflake three inch grub on a 1/4 ounce jighead. Right at dark it started to rain. I started the fire as fast as I could and really piled on the wood. The good news was right behind camp was where in floods the river left all its debris so there was a huge supply of wood. Which really was the only reason I'd risked camping on the river on a night like this. An hour ago I was in a tee shirt now the wind was blowing hard and I could already see my breath as I pulled on bibs and parka. The wind and rain was making a h#&! of a racket on the tarp and gusts of wind had the bonfire throwing off showers of sparks halfway across the river. It was going to be a long night. I would get cold every hour or two wake and crawl out to pile wood on the fire. When I woke about five thirty it was calm and thousands of stars shown in a clear dark sky as the moon set. Out of my pack I dug a container of nightcrawlers and with my back to fire caught a couple decent channels. After every fish I'd warm my freezing hands on the fire and I thought I'd better check the temperature on my phone. 35 degrees. 35 degrees, rain and wind, it had been one heck of a night. But totally worth it, that last hour the evening before was as good as I've ever seen it. The fishing was slow right at daylight and I had family obligations so I left early but not before watching two beautiful deer cross the river thru the mist. It was the kind of adventure you always dream of but so seldom actually get to experience.