Overhead, an enormous flock of migrating starlings races against the clear harbor sky. It is as if someone has thrown sacks of black pepper into the air and the flakes are being pushed by the wind.

Underwater, pods of striped bass - certainly not as thick as the starlings - are marauding for food. When one makes a mistake -- grabbing a lure instead of the real thing - a Baltimore battle is on.

Amid gargantuan Navy ships, even more gargantuan ocean-going freighters, shore-based cranes the height of skyscrapers and the backdrop of Fort McHenry on Veteran's Day, Capt. Jerry Sersen and I are taking striped bass near where Francis Scott Key penned our national anthem.