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…