Really?  Stretch it out, stretch it out.  How many weeks have we been waiting to pull the mask off of Rod Bassy?  This is getting tedious… and it would seem that the first string illustrators are getting tired of all this, too, as evidenced by the bad close-ups of our intrepid, erstwhile “Father-son” duo…

I remain terribly confused by the setting as well…  the re-introduction of an urban skyline just serves to disorient this reader.  I mean really.  And do we really need more pictures of boats, motors and “equipment?”  I am speechless.  C’mon, Elrod, let’s get the tension pot simmering at least…

Something to hide!  What a breakthrough! The case-cracker! I am surprised that Rusty gets to ride in the front seat with Mark… one would think that he would be relegated to permanent back seat status…

Do people really use words like “however” in normal speech patterns?

Let’s see if we get to meet other contestants with equally improbable fish-related names!

Can’t wait to see the inside of the “Lakeside Hotel.”  I think it more likely that it’s a “MOTEL” without hallways, and room entry from the parking lot…

Finally, however, Mark needs to lend Rusty some of his hair stick-um to tame that cowlick!

Tinted Windows?  Really! What if what he’s hiding has NOTHING to do with fishing?  What if he really is a better fisherman that everyone else, but there is something else horrible and nefarious going on?  Oh, the mind races…

And look at the concerned look on Mark’s face.  It appears that he is starting to realize that something strange is afoot!  But then again, fisher-people are known for their secrecy… and the BS that issues forth from their being.  Anything to hide their secrets and what it takes to catch the most and the biggest fish.  But still it would appear that Mark is now sufficiently aroused to go into action!

This young lad WILL NOT BE DENIED!  “Mr. catfish! About those pictures???”  But still, he can’t get “inside the van…”  Nice close up of the male-pattern baldness that afflicts our would-be evil-doer…

Again, young man, it’s just too messy!  And how would that look to Rod’s fans??  I love the pose he strikes in front of the van- suck in gut, throw out chest.  Thumbs in belt.  Do you suppose that somewhere he read the horizontal stripes make you look more imposing?

C’mon Bluegill, that’s just one lunker away from contention… You call yourself a fisherman??

But meanwhile, back in the International Harvester Scout, Bluegill stops just short of declaring the “light-up lure” illegal… when Rusty blurts out about his unsupervised activities:

Yea, that’s “great,” Rusty…  we will waste more ink and paper on them once we get back to Bluegill’s house… But then we start to see the impish, gap-toothed Rusty begin to emerge.  He will have to really turn on the charm if he wants to get “inside the van.”

Is it just me, or am I the only one that derives a sexual connotation from the phrase, “pictures of Rod’s equipment inside <his> van?”

But what lurks in the weedy depths of lake Bass-o-Matic?

“Area Three” the man in charge, the bald, diminutive “Catfish” commanded…

Hopefully Rusty is hot on the “Trail” of Catfish… Their evil plot MUST be EXPOSED!

Apparently an outdoor writer is more greatly feared than an actual game warden with a badge, gun and authority…

And oh, yea… you think you can DEAL WITH TRAIL???  Pride goeth before the fall, Rod, Pride goeth before the fall…

I wonder what Catfish gets out of this whole deal?  Who has the leverage in this arrangement?  In panel three Catfish is sounding very prescriptive and like he’s the one calling the shots…  Rod, on the other hand, just looks good on the cover of outdoor magazines, with his full head of hair and bravado…

“You little squirt…” I love it.  Grabbing Bluegill’s shirt in a threatening manner…  Mark seems happy to be eating his eggs and bacon.  I wonder how he stays so trim?  Good genes, I guess…

But look at poor what’s his name- oh yea, “Catfish…” He must be thinking “how do I get away from this guy?”

Funny how diminutive Rod appears in his boat and how he puffs up to supernatural size when threatened- just like in the WILD!

Such familiarity, Rusty…  and lack of Respect!  ‘Bluegill?’ not ‘Mr. Bluegill?’  But of course it’s ‘Mr.’ Bassy…

And no one is wearing a seatbelt!  Rusty leaning on the back of the bench seat, breathing down Mark’s neck… And the head restraints have been torn from the seat backs…

…or maybe Mark is driving his 1978 International Harvester Scout…

Seems to always be a bit “throw-away…” Maybe everyone doesn’t carry it, read it.  Doesn’t seem fair to those of us that hang on EVERY installment…

But at least it made clear the fact the Mark and Rusty did not go back home to Lost Forest, despite the fact that the fishing tournament was declared to be LOCAL…

But certainly this is a healthy dose of MOOSE.  Bull  and cow with another unrequited moose lover in the shadows… Nature sure can be cruel…

But still the tension mounts about what’s inside the VAN!!

Oh, c’mon Trail, you can’t be serious,  with so many plot elements still flapping in the wind…

Where did “Catfish” race off to, slinging gravel at Rusty?  Did Rod Bassy catch the most fish?  Is he going to mock his competition from the winner’s stand?  What’s inside the van, anyway?  Good thing mark implanted that “chip” in Rusty so he would have no problem “locating” him…

You know, sometimes, the juxtaposition of Trail and Technology cracks me up.  Apparently Mark forgets that one can now “look at” pictures with printing them, but apparently ink and photo grade paper involve little or no cost in the Trail universe.  But apparently Star Trek style Transporter technology  is something that they HAVE mastered, since they managed to get back to Lost Forest without so much as a throw-away shot of the two of them in the car…

Is that genuine respect?

I swear it looks like Rod has aged about 50 years in one afternoon…  maybe the van contains regeneration equipment- alien technology… that returns him to youthful fighting form…

…and don’t sell yourself short Rod, it’s what you DO with that lure that counts…

I repeat, I use a Rod Bassy® Glow in the Dark™ lure…  if you do the same, you’ll catch fish like me

I wonder how many readers are googling this and wondering why Cabela’s or  Bass Pro Shops aren’t carrying this line of product…

And yet no sign of Catfish or anything that would seem to be untoward… This is looking more like a Babe Winkleman or a Ron Schara Production…

And wouldn’t you think that at least one boat would have followed the “leader?” or is it the arrogance of fishermen that makes them think that “they know best?”

OH LOOK- THE CAMERA is back!

Knowing WHERE to fish, what to OFFER and how to PRESENT it is the proverbial three-legged stool…  without all of the legs, fishing remains FISHING when what one really wants to do is to go CATCHING… How Zen is this?  Consider for a moment that a three-legged stool will never wobble, despite the uneven surface it might rest upon.  The stool might not be level, but it won’t wobble…

OK, back to the story.  Not sure what happened to Trail’s Camera, but it’s been replaced with the thoughtful “Hand stroking chin whiskers” maneuver, certain to send a raft of productive thoughts to the Trail brain.  WAIT- Mark is having a private thought without vocalizing? This has to be a first!!

I love how Rod’s round preppy sunglasses perch nicely on the bridge of his prize-fighter nose! And note the minor sneer he offers as he rebuts the implied criticism of Mark’s “You’re changing lures?”  He is a barrel of insecurity…

Is Rod Bassy wearing GLASSES?  Special Glasses?  The kind that can see into the Fish’s SOUL??  With the cap perched jauntily on his head, he almost strikes a grandfatherly profile…

“And Please, Trail, get it right!!- that’s The Rod Bassy Killer® to you…”

And what exactly is he pulling out of the lake?

What is this misshapen thing?

Is it supposed to be a Bass?

Well, this is certainly random…  some sturdy, handsome lass from the casting couch gets 5 seconds of close-up while Rusty (in a striking action pose) is busy talking to no one in particular about his “job…”  what is it about the Trail Universe where none of the characters can ever (apparently) harbor a private thought?  Is that the writers/ artists never took “thought balloon 101” at the Comic Strip Academy?

And why IS Catfish in SUCH A BIG HURRY??  What’s he up to?  Oh, the tension mounts… My vote is still on the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus…

I wonder if Mark is bothered by Rod Bassy now referring to him only as “Trail.”  Well it works for “Prince” and “Beyonce” and “Madonna” and “Cher,” so why not?

Is it just me, or does that deer have REALLY big ears??

As Mark races of to the fishing hole with Rod Bassy he leaves Rusty in charge of shooting “B-Roll…” Rusty gazes at the Camera with wonder…

But now the plot thickens nicely… “Mr. Catfish” isn’t in the mood to “pose” for any pictures… And the look on Rusty’s face says it all… “Aw shucks, mister, I promised Mark I would take pictures for him…”  Funny how Rusty’s grin can become gap-toothed in a flash… does he shape shift also to make himself appear LESS imposing?  Or is the artist as sick of Rusty as Mark is, and takes little care to “get him right??”  And what is Mr. Catfish up to??  The mind races!!

And again with the flying creatures in the foreground… can we just have one strip that doesn’t feature animals?

Think about that which Mark just asked you.  You realize by now, don’t you, that you aren’t going to set foot in a boat or get on the water, right?  “maybe he’ll get to do some fishing…” yes he will if only to throw his bare hook off the pier while Mark and the “real fisherman” head out to their own “glory holes” in the lake…  How sad that he takes the bait of “will you take some pictures” so readily…

And I don’t recall Mr. Bassy actually agreeing to the imposition of having “Trail” with him in his boat…  The tension mounts!!

It’s a MESS!  We can’t have pictures taken of our MESSY VAN…

“Yea, see, Trail here wants to take a ‘ganda inside the VAN… see… whataya think about THAT??”   I am hearing Edward G Robinson suddenly…

Mr Catfish seems rather, um, small… at least in the center frame.

“So why do they call you ‘Catfish’?”

“Oh, one time I went fishing and I ended up catching a lot of cats…  after many beers, I guess the name just stuck… wow, that’s quite a grip you got there… is it ok that I call you ‘Mr. Trail’?”

What a tease…  now we are back to talking about the inside of his van…  well, OK.

Nice long shot with the mallards in the fore-ground…  How DOES he do that?  And there’s Bluegill and Rusty magically reappearing in the shot…

“But, SERIOUSLY, Mark, my VAN is JUST A MESS!  I’d be SIMPLY MORTIFIED if my fan base knew what slob I am… You saw how I like to keep my Penthouse Apartment neat as a pin, how would a messy van fit in with that??”

I am guessing he wants time to hide all the scuba gear that Catfish straps on when it’s time to go “fishing…”