Amazing things happen during the fall run when baitfish, stripers, bluefin tuna and whales converge close to the coasts of New York and New Jersey. Sometimes anglers are lucky enough to get a front row seat to this amazing natural spectacle. On Sunday, November 2, Long Island photographer and videographer, Sergio Diaz, captured a once-in-a-lifetime shot of a striped bass making a daring, last-second escape. Menhaden—also known as “bunker” or “pogies” throughout their Northeastern range—leapt from the ocean with several striped bass hot on their tails before a humpback whale, feeding on the menhaden, revealed itself. What happened next has been recorded on video only a handful of times—a striped bass narrowly escaping the maw of a hungry whale.
For the past several years, during the latter half of their migration off Long Island and New Jersey, stripers have collided with menhaden, sand eels, bluefin tuna and whales in spectacular fashion. More often than not, the action takes place in surprisingly shallow water within sight of sand. Between the intensity of November striped bass fishing and breathtaking displays of marine life, many fishermen claim there’s no better time to be on the water.
That Sunday, Diaz was fishing in 65 feet of water just south of Fire Island Inlet with his friend, Ray Phelan, Phelan’s son Liam, and Al Lecius on Phelan’s 32-foot Yellowfin, when they spotted a “motherlode” of birds on the radar and proceeded to run toward the flock. “When we arrived, we saw whales feeding on bunker pods and big bass crashing on top,” Diaz said. “After the whales went down, we kept working the zone. I noticed the water change and the birds get excited, so I started filming the general area and then boom—the whale came up.”
The video, which Diaz slowed down for closer observation, shows a school of bunker fleeing before a striped bass launches itself to freedom from the whale’s closing jaw. “The funny thing is, it all happened so fast, maybe 2 or 3 seconds,” Diaz said. “I didn’t even notice the bass until I watched the footage on my computer. In the original audio, you can actually hear my fishing buddies yelling and asking, ‘Was that a bass that just came out?!'” Diaz was filming in the right place at the right time just as this striped bass got caught feeding in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Check out the footage in the Instagram clip below.
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The diet of humpback whales does not typically include striped bass, but they feed on many of the same prey species, putting stripers and humpbacks, along with bluefin tuna, in close proximity on the feeding grounds in the fall.
» For more photo and video content from Sergio, follow @sergiodiazfishing on Instagram or visit sergiodiazfishing.com.
