Out of nowhere comes a device that would suggest that we are actually operating in the current year, or at least the recent past!  A laptop!!  A memory card from a Camera!  I guess the camera doesn’t have one of those fancy “view-screens…”  But no matter.

I think that’s hilarious… the ennui exhibited-** ho-hum** “Bass Boats, fisherman, the usual stuff”  **yawn**  But Wait!  There’s more!  Oh the heart races.  Do you suppose we will get to the punch line by Saturday?

Elrod HAS to be writing this with people like me in mind… “Let’s see, how moronic can I make Trail look?”  “Camera… Camera… CAMERA! WAIT! It holds PICTURES, maybe even CLUES!”  And to suggest that “Rusty being taken by force” is some new, novel plot twist is quite a stretch even in itself.  As previously discussed, Rusty is a consummate kidnapping victim.  Almost like he enjoys being bound, gagged and taken away “by force.”

But is there now a chance that Mark might be able to unleash his Fists of Justice?  His Roundhouse of Rightousness? His Right-hook of Retribution?  We can only wait and see!

Sadly, Rod is probably spot-on… The specific gravity and density of Mark’s Pre-frontal cortex* suggests that it will be at least a week’s worth of strips before he might link Rusty’s disappearance to Messrs. Bassy and Catfish…  But with the spotted salamanders on high alert, someone (maybe even Trail) will link the restlessness of this bellwether species to a great unhinging of the natural order of things… and suggest to him that his young charge is being taken against his will…

* This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making and moderating social behavior. The basic activity of this brain region is considered to be orchestration of thoughts and actions in accordance with internal goals.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefrontal_cortex

Here it is in color!!  “That’s PINK Spotted Salamander to you, Fella!”

The kid saw everything…  but does he have the mental acuity to connect all the dots?  That’s the question… but oh, what to do?  I don’t think there’s felony charge for “cheating at a bass fishing tournament,” but I am pretty sure that Bassy and Catfish just punched their ticket to the land of big time hood-dom, adding kidnapping to their repertoire… Nice going, Catfish… we could have headed south and lived out our days in mexico, in shame, but now we are wanted felons…

But come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever recalled any baddie getting the kidnapping rap…

What will possibly next?  And you only THINK Rusty would never “go running off without telling me…” I mean really, Mark?  he does it all the time!  And where are you and are you paying attention to his needs?  I think not…

It’s a damn good thing that Mr Catfish, along with doing a piss-poor job of securing the details of his illegal fish tournament caper, seems to have been to too great a hurry to notice that A CAMERA went THUD! on the ground… Now all mark has to do is go through the pictures on the memory card…  Mark, you DO know how to do that, don’t you?

Hmmm… where’s Rusty? Not in the car?  What’s the rule again? 15 minutes and I get to leave without a shred of guilt?  But what will Cherry say? Oh, that’s right, he’s not really hers anyway… Damn, she might demand that we engage in baby-making activities… Shit I better go find him.

I was really looking forward to meeting some of the other fisher-people…  but I guess that was not to be.  That would have required Elrod and Co. to come up with a slew of other implausible names like “Musky McPike” and “Sally Sturgeon…” I mean, c’mon it’s not THAT hard, right?

Rusty’s been “kidnapped?”  Amazing, really.  Most sentient beings can learn from their past mistakes, but apparently this one can’t…  “Oh, I will just go nosing about in someone else’s stuff/ business, then act terribly surprised when I get grabbed, tied up and driven off…”

What choice do they have but to kill him?  I mean, Rusty KNOWS now what the “secret is…” as if this plot inflection wasn’t telegraphed a few weeks ago.  One should wonder, though, why Rod Bassy, Inc. didn’t invest in a cargo van with NO windows and spend a little money on the interior to hide the “tools of their trade…” so as to not signal defensiveness when people come around wanting to “see what’s inside…”

Imagine the shock and horror of being found out!  Well, that didn’t take very long!!  Such a sad face on poor Rusty!  It’s the fish-bait knife for you, Nosey Parker! A lesson well worth learning, since Rusty’s notion of private and personal boundaries has always been a bit retarded… Oops, can I use that word?  OK, “Challenged…”

At the risk of feeling way too proud of myself, I believe I may have “called” this plot out a few weeks back… and I am generally one that doesn’t need to do so… happy to let things unfold before me…

…but upon closer inspection, it appears that there may be water spilling out from under the bench seat- could they be growing and stocking trophy size bass in his  van?  That seems a little far-fetched given the elaborate set-up that would require.  Oh Silly Mr Catfish…  so careless.  Maybe he wants to get caught so that he can give up this awful life that he has become wedded to…

But what danger has Rusty walked into?  Quick, Lad, get your pictures and be gone!!!

Why is it that karmic forces always bestow upon this lad the unlocked door that really should be locked???  Usually it’s a cabin in the woods being used as a bad-guy hide-out, but in this case it’s a gaudy conversion van owned by none other than our primary suspect, which will no doubt now reveal its deep, dark secrets of “success.”  But, really, who taught this boy any manners? A notion of boundaries?  Of private property rights?  Where is that small, still voice that should be saying, “Gosh, Rusty, you really haven’t any business nosing around in other people’s stuff…”  But no, the passion he exhibits and where he allows his natural curiosity to take him is, at last, what will drive this tedious plot line forward… Thank you, Rusty.

And we get a double dose of wildlife as a bonus- one avian and one mammal.  But what do you suppose is going on in the van?  How could Mr. Catfish have been so careless?  Oh the mind races with possibilities, some of them downright icky…  let’s hope for something that’s not cringe-worthy…

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…