Technically your feet really need to be below the high water line. (ie wet) And you can not trespass across someones property to get to that spot, most of the time this is the real problem, the fellow walked across his yard to get to the spot. He also is probably parked his car illegally as well. As long as you are in the water with feet wet you probably have some thin legal grounds ( that colonial law is kind of dusty and to be honest, is not enforced by the local police and since many of the waterfront land owners actually pay taxes on land that is underwater in many cases, they claim that it belongs to them and they have some rights) You can argue this forever and I am on your side...I think if you are in the water, and you did not trespass and did not park illegally you can stand there but that is me.
That said, if you floated a garbage scow in front of a waterfront land owners property and dropped anchor for a while, I think the guy would get pissed and have you removed by some means and you would be arrested and removed. You may be right but you will be removed.
Bottom line is it is better not to fight these battles, you generally will not win and even if you do technically "win", you will be removed, arrested or hassled to the point where you don't enjoy fishing anymore.
Just go late at night, don't trespass and avoid contact with all people. That is what I do and so far I have not gotten involved with the law or in conflict with others. Causing a problem, will lead to other problems, even if you are technically right.
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