2 am and on the water

My friend Ken invited me to go steelhead fishing on the N. Fork of the Lewis River. He wanted to leave early, to be able to fish from a particular rock before someone else got there. I have always thought that early means 6am or so. Ken came to pick me up at 1am. A side trip to Wal-Mart for bait and tackle and we found ourselves on the water by 2am. Someone had taken Ken's rock already. They claimed to have been fishing all night. As I was rigging up my fly rod, several other people drove in. It started to get a bit crowded. I didn't know the water and couldn't see the river too well by flashlight so I had to fish where I was sitting already. I was going to swing a fly, and when it was just me and Ken there was plenty of room. By the time I was rigged up there was no room to fly fish. I didn't have anything but a fly rod. I found a baitcasting reel in the bottom of my tackle bag. It needed line and I had a spool of 8# mono in the bag. I put the baitcasting reel on my 12 foot, 8 wt. spey rod. I rigged up for plunking and just sat there waiting. This is boring fishing, but it does work. It works every day except today. 2am, 40 degrees, 4 layers of thermal and windbreaking clothing, 1 pair of gloves and 1 pair of mittens, and it is pitch black. We fished for 3 hours without a touch. Ken reeled in to check his tackle. He casted out to the same spot he was in before. As soon as the corky and shrimp hit the water he connected with a 7 pound male silver. We called it quits soon after that. I get spoiled fishing the OFC private access river fishing sites and the lack of crowds and water that doesn't get pounded. It was still a great trip. Any time I can get out of doors, it is still better than staying home.