The Outdoor Line Forum

I just got this news about the reopening of the last piece of closed shoreline in the Gulf of Mexico after the Horizon spill. Either the Gulf of Mexico healed up quickly or all that oil washed offshore and out of sight-out of mind. Either way it's good news for sportsman in the Gulf region

http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/oaonline/

That's wonderful news and illustrates the temperature difference between the Gulf of Mexico and Prince William Sound.
While visible scars are still easily seen in and around the Seward, Alaska area following the Exxon Valdez spill on March 25,1989, the warmer waters in and around the Gulf have bounced back much more quickly.
Tobeck can probably shed a little light on this topic but I believe that a background level of crude has always been present in the Gulf of Mexico region which initially led to the discovery of the oil fields.

This is very exciting news after just 1 year. I can attest that there are plenty of fish in the Gulf and from the recreational fisherman's perspective I think very little damage was done with regards to fish stocks. We have many more and bigger threats to fish stocks than oil, longlines and netters out in the gulf do quite a bit of damage with all the bycatch. As far as the oil, while we never want to see it, the truth is that the gulf and many places in the ocean floor seep oil all the time. Thankfully the design of the planet allows the planet to deal with and heal itself from these scars. Also contributing to the fast recovery when compared to Prince William Sound is the salt water in the gulf, sea temps, and just the vast amounts of waters and curents in the gulf. Also, I believe the crude in the Gulf was lighter wich probably contributed as well. Anyway, great news, I am headed down to Texas to fish the gulf coast in two weeks and then off to Florida in June to fish my home waters for a week. Fish On!