Salmon River
The Salmon River arises in north central New York State on the Tug Hill Plateau to the east of Lake Ontario. It flows 44 miles (71 km) westward off the plateau and there is a hydroelectric dam near Little America to create the Salmon River Reservoir. Both the Salmon River and Salmon River Reservoir are heavily visited destinations for fishermen during peak season.
The river is noted for its recreational salmon fishery today. The fishery is possible due to the efforts of the Salmon River Fish Hatchery that is located north of Altmar on a tributary to the Salmon River called Beaver Dam Brook. The hatchery stocks over 3.5 million trout and salmon each year in the surrounding areas. The Salmon River receives annually ( current as of February 2012 ): 350,000 Chinook fingerlings, 234,800 steelhead ( rainbow ) fingerlings, 60,000 skamania fingerlings, 113,540 Coho salmon fingerlings and 5,000 brown trout fingerlings. In early history this was Atlantic salmon, but now these have been mostly replaced by stocked coho, chinook, and steelhead which make spawning runs upriver from Lake Ontario in autumn.
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The fish that return to the Salmon River in the fall will vary in species, numbers and size. The most abundant fish to return to the Salmon River is the King Salmon. Also known as a Chinook Salmon, not only is it the most abundant it is also the biggest fish to run the river. King Salmon from the Salmon River have been known to top the scales at over 40 lbs with many fish in the 20-30 lb range. Along with the big fish there will be some 1 year old fish called jacks. These fish rarely weigh over 10-12 lbs.
Coho Salmon are less in numbers and in size. The record Coho was caught in the lake near Oswego and weighed over 33lbs. What they lack in size they make up for in fight. Also in the fall, good numbers of Steelhead and Brown Trout enter the river. The Brown Trout are fall spawners. They enter the river to eat the eggs of the spawning salmon and steelhead. Trout of over 22 lbs have been taken during the Salmon run.
Starting in and around June, some Atlantic enter the River as well as skamania, a summer run strain of steelhead. Smallmouth bass are present in the lower ends of the River and panfish, largemouth bass as well as northern pike can be taken in the estuary at this time.