GARIBALDI, Ore. — Clean your reel, strip the old line, sharpen your hooks and get ready to do battle with a Tillamook Bay spring Chinook.

Local guide John Bowles of JB and Water Guide Service (503-322-FISH) speculates springers are already trickling into the bay.

"I've caught some fish in April, but May is the kickoff," he says. "That's when the fishing gets really good.

I want my customers to have a good time so I don't book people until the first of May. That way I know they have a chance for a terrific day.

These fish usually run from 15 to 25 pounds, but my largest weighed 41. Last year we caught a few in the upper 30s."

Bowles has been fishing the bay for 13 years and holds a Coast Guard license to operate in the ocean.

Weather permitting, he likes to take his boat out across the bar and fish close along the south side of the south jetty.

"The fish seem to stack up there waiting for flood tide," he says.

"Sometimes it's good right on the bar, but boaters should use caution; there is a shoal area in the middle ground and a big swell can make it dangerous.

Every year a few boats get swamped."

When the weather is uncooperative outside, John works in the bay along the north jetty for an hour on each side of low water.

As the tide floods, he moves up to work the hole in front of the Coast Guard station — or farther up into the Ghost Hole.

An electronic fish-finder tells John where his gear is fishing, but he doesn't use it to find fish.

"They travel the same routes using the same spots year after year, and that's where you want to be," he says.

From the Ghost Hole down through the lower bay and outside, bait works best.

The preferred setup consists of a three-way swivel with a cannonball hung on 12 to 18 inches of dropper leader.

"Use anywhere from 4 to 10 ounces of lead, just enough to keep your rig running about 6 feet off the bottom," Bowles says, noting that springers are aggressive biters.

"They'll come up and chase a bait — unlike the fall fish where you have to put it right under their noses."

The working end of the gear is a mooching rig tied on 6 to 8 feet of 25-pound test leader.

A bead swivel is installed midway between the main swivel and the hooks. To keep the swivel free of seaweed, a golf tee weed guard is strung ahead of it.

The bead swivel is important because a standard swivel doesn't operate fast enough to keep the line from twisting into a hopeless tangle.

Use small to medium-size herring, either straight or plug-cut.

A lot of old-timers here plug-cut their herring, but, according to Bowles, both work well at a slow troll.

"And resist the impulse to set the hook at the first tap," he advises. "Wait. Sometimes the fish will nip at the bait several times.

You have to wait until the rod goes over hard. Overcast or sunny days make little difference, but sometimes a bit of wind chop can help.

It lends action to the lure."

Fishing above the Ghost Hole — through the upper bay and into tidewater on the rivers — anglers favor Tee Spoons or Kwikfish.

As added enticement, some people use magic thread to belly-wrap their Kwikfish with a sardine or herring fillet.

Bowles likes a silver color, size K-14 or K-15, with a green head.

The Oyster House Hole off Memaloose Point is a favorite drag and has a public boat launch.

The same type of setup is used as in the lower bay, but you're pulling hardware instead of herring and 2 to 4 ounces of lead is plenty.

Let the weight hit bottom then bring it up a crank or two.

Colors make a difference, so take a variety and don't be shy about experimenting until you find something that works.

Bobber fishing with sand shrimp and eggs can also be productive in the lower rivers pouring into the bay, especially if there hasn't been much rain.

Stop the bait 3 to 5 feet below the bobber, and fish low water into the flood; fish heading upriver seem to move in that range of the water column.

When the tide starts to ebb, drop the bait down a couple of feet.