Kurt Akin the skipper of the boat, drove the boat up to the Lost Coast off Fort Bragg to pursue the lingcod off Cape Viscaino. "We did very well on rockfish and lingcod yesterday on our afternoon trip, ending up with over 30 lingcod," said Akin.

When we arrived at the spot, the seas were as flat as they can be, with no swell or wind chop, almost too calm. Akin and the deckhand advised everybody to use a bar and teaser rig to maximize their opportunity of catching both lingcod and rockfish.

I started out with a chrome/chartreuse bar, one of the inexpensive homemade ones that are sold at all of the shops in Fort Bragg, with a shrimp fly teaser. Before I tossed it out, I squirted a bunch of the Crave Natural Trout Gravy over the bar and shrimp fly.

I accidentally spilled some of the gravy on somebody's ice chest on Martin's side of the boat. "I told you to keep that stuff on your side of the boat, Dan!" said Martin.

The bite started out slowly at first, but picked up after Akin moved the boat several times off Cape Viscaino. Within the first two hours, I landed my limit of lingcod and eight rockfish, including several quality vermilions, a huge black rockfish, a big yellowtail. I also released two shaker lings and broke off one big fish. After landing each fish, I squirted more Crave Gravy on my bar before tossing the lure back out.

Meanwhile, Kiyena Mooers of Grass Valley was frustrated about not catching any fish. "You can use some of my Crave Gravy," I told her. "I guarantee that you'll start catching fish if you put it on your lure. I'm getting bit just about every time I drop it."

Sure enough, after two hours of not getting bit, she began nailing huge rockfish. Mooers and her fishing partner, Noah Zelle, caught a total of 10 fish along with releasing two shaker lingcod. "Hey pass that stuff over here again," she kept telling me every time she planned to drop down her bar.

Meanwhile, Martin had only one fish, a small yellowtail rockfish, in the bag. "This stuff really works, Jim, you ought to use it," I told him. He finally decided to try it - and caught a keeper greenling right away. However, the bite began to taper off and anglers only scratched out a few more fish. The 33 anglers on the boat ended up with 19 lingcod and 3/4 limits of rockfish, according to Akin. Although people didn't catch full limits, the quality of the fish was outstanding.

Chuck Sorrels of Chico nailed a huge 8 pound black rockfish. Lynn George of Willows, who was fishing right next to me, landed two big lingcod. One woman - who for some strange reason didn't want her photo or name taken - landed the biggest fish of the day, a 23 pound lingcod.

Rockfishing off the Mendocino Coast south of Cape Mendocino will continue through December 31. For more information about booking trips out of Fort Bragg, call Anchor Charters, (707) 964-4550 or www.anchorcharterboats.com.; Telstar Charters, (707) 964-8770 www.goceanfishing.com; or Noyo Fishing Center, (707) 964-3000.

I have never been a big advocate of scents, but I have increased my angling success dramatically while using the various Crave Gravy scents for steelhead, kokanee, king salmon, rockfish, lingcod and other species over the past year. The stuff really works - and my recent experience fishing for rockfish off Fort Bragg attests to it. However, remember to shake the bottle vigorously, preferably after putting a small weight inside it, for the gravy to be the most effective.

The Crave Bait Company is introducing a new line of saltwater and salmon scents for 2004. For more information, contact www.cravebait.com.