Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

[SeaRay]

Day 5 of out trip and we're on the road at 6:30 to beat the tourist traffic at Holiday Park. Some 60 so miles along we come to a dead stop. Hwy 27 is a 4 lane divided highway and we are two lanes thick at a standstill. Danny is several cars ahead and calls to tell me the Highway Patrol is turning every one around. We were only few miles from the Park and later learned there was a brush fire and the park and highway were closed for several hours.
In previous years we had fished at a small landing on 27 but never had much luck, but it was the only option since we had not done well at the Alligator Alley landing earlier.
We put in and fished for a couple of hours with little action except small bream. We ran back past the landing to try the other end of the canals. I have little hope of success so I decided to tie up to a snag at the edge of a small feeder canal. I must have parked Gerald on top of a school because he had two in the boat before I could get tied off. It was nonstop for the next hour and we quit at one cooler full because everyone was tired of cleaning fish. We had a fish fry tonight and they were great along with grits and tomatoes.
Some random pictures and comments to follow: