The nation's oldest nuclear power plant, the Oyster Creek Generating Station sucks in 1.4 billion gallons of water a day from the Forked River to cool its reactor, then pumps the water back out into neighboring Oyster Creek at higher temperatures. Come late winter and early spring, the creek becomes -- literally and figuratively -- New Jersey's hottest fishing spot.

Species like striped bass, bluefish and flounder that largely migrate to warmer waters or go dormant in winter instead remain in the warm waters of the creek and keep biting through the hardest freezes.