By RANDY ROCHELLE

How can you tell the offshore bite is really starting to pick up? Just take a look at the offshore marine forecast. It seems when the bite picks up, so does the wind. If you’re planning an offshore trip this week use caution as 15- to 20-knot winds are forecast through Friday.

The kingfish bite continues to crank up with fish being caught from right along the beaches to well offshore. Again the keys to finding them are clean water and bait. Watch for birds working near the surface as they are often working pods of baits that have been pushed up to the top by feeding fish.

Looking for lots of action? Then use just about any kind of white bait. Now, if you’re looking to bag a smoker, slowing trolling large baits such as ladyfish, runners and mullet will increase your odds.

The grouper bite also continues to pick up. Gag grouper are being taken in as little as 30 feet up to the north and 50 to 70 feet south of Clearwater. The gags have been on the move and have worked up an appetite, making cut bait just about as effective as live.

Can’t make it offshore? No problem, the bite along the Egmont Channel, both inside and outside the Skyway, is on. Trolling and bottom fishing along the channel have been very productive during the beginning and end of outgoing and incoming tides. Expect the bite to slow or stop as the tides crank up.

Captain Randy Rochelle runs the “Gotta Go” out of St. Petersburg and can be reached at (727) 365-3218 or www.islandercharters.net.