The "Public Trust Doctrine" essentially states that the State of Washinton holds title to its waterways in trust for the benefit of the people.

While there are some instances of riverbeds being sold, the vast majority of rivers and riverbeds are public property, at least the areas below the normal high water mark.

This applies to river and to beaches. As long as you hit the beach or river at a legal access, via permission or via public access, you should be able to walk up and down the river all you want, so long as you stay on the river bank near the water.

Adjacent landowners may own the rights to the shellfish in the tidelands adjacent to their property, and they may have water rights in the river adjacent to their property.

You are not trespassing if you are in the river. I've actually heard landowners claim that you can boat the river, but if your anchor or feet touch the river bottom then you are trespassing. Pure hogwash.

The Public Trust Doctrine should be an easily researched topic. I just did a quick search of "Public Trust Doctrine Washington" on google.com and came up with over 59,000 responses. I'm sure a few of them would be worthwhile. There are also books and treatises available, but you'd probably have to go to a county law library to find them.

I think that there are people at DNR or DFW who could tell you if a certain river or beach has been sold en toto to the landowner, if you want specifics about a certain spot.

All that said, it is always wise to keep the land as clean as possible to avoid conflicts with landowners, or other fishermen who would prefer to see you pick up your trash.

If you own waterfront or riverfront property, I'd recommend finding out how far your property goes.

Fish on...

Todd.