By 8:00 am, only three more anglers showed up and we were headed up the coast to Westport. Our first stop was about a half mile offshore just south of Westport in 80 feet of water. Thornton instructed everyone to "let em down" and I heaved my favorite 8 ounce black bar 100 feet out in front of the boat.

The bottom came quickly and I engaged the reel and began hopping the jig back towards the boat. Within seconds, my rod doubled over and I felt the surge of a good lingcod as it bulldogged its way towards the rocks. I kept heavy pressure on the fish until it finally turned and slowly worked it up towards the surface. Olandt quickly gaffed the fish, a quality 12 pounder, as it lay along side the boat. "Not bad for your first cast of the day," he said.

As I prepared for my second cast, Sirjessi was into his first ling of the day and two anglers in the back of the boat were yelling for the gaff. Over the next few hours, we hit several hot spots full of hungry lings, most of them keepers running 5 to 8 pounds. We also caught decent numbers of rockfish, a mix of blues, china cod and vermilions. While the majority of the lingcod were taken on painted bars from 4 to 8 ounces, three anglers were fishing Super Fly rigs and they managed to catch limits of lings as well. In fact, the largest fish of the day, a monster 25 pound ling taken by Ted Steinhardt of Fort Bragg, fell for a Super Fly rig.

By days end, we had full limits of lingcod to 25 pounds and about 5 to 8 rockfish for each of the 7 anglers on board. I lost count of the number of undersized or barely legal lingcod we released. The winter season offers some of the best rockfishing opportunities of the year. The fish are generally shallow and passengers are very light.

If you're interested in booking a trip in Fort Bragg, give Anchor Charters a try.