Hey Dr. Pepper,

I talked to the guy that runs the duck club at the mouth of the Dungeness. According to him, the Dunge is one of three rivers in Washington State in which the state deeded the property UNDER the river to the property owners. In other words, the property owners own all the property, to the middle of the river (not to the observed high water mark like other rivers) but the State owns the water itself (since it is navigable).

What this means is, the only way you can legally fish in the river without the property owner's permission, is from a floating device (boat, etc.) but the boat can't be in contact with the land, or logs or such that go into the river, even if the only thing touching land is an anchor. In their case, they have even been deeded the land in the salt water to the -4.0 tide mark, which in Dungeness Bay is WAAAY the heck out there... so you (legally) couldn't even anchor up out there without their permission... not that I'd want to this time of year anyhow, as you'd want to be wearing a flak jacket... I was down at the Oyster House on Saturday, and you could see & hear the duck hunters firing many rounds.

He said they are going to crack down even harder this year on trespassers on the duck club land near the mouth, and won't hesitate to call the GW's. I guess they've had an increase in problems in the past 4 years.

Anyway, just figured I'd give you a head's up and try and avoid a ticket. There are fish already upriver of that property anyways, and with a little rain, we'll all be fishing further upriver anyhow.

-N.