Salmon River, NY Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Salmon River, NY fishing report

The Salmon River is best known for its spectacular fall Chinook and coho salmon runs and the steelhead that follow them through winter into early spring, but the river offers more variety than most visitors expect. When salmon runs wind down, resident brown trout and rainbow trout hold in deeper pools year-round. Downstream stretches and the lower river near Lake Ontario warm enough by late spring to hold smallmouth bass in current seams and rocky structure, with the occasional walleye pushing in from the lake. Chain pickerel, panfish, and channel catfish show up in slower backwater pockets and softer bends, giving light-tackle anglers something to chase between the headliner runs.

During salmon and steelhead season, fish stack in the deeper bucket pools and below log jams where current breaks let them rest — focus your drift right along the bottom. Egg patterns, sucker spawn flies, and small yarn flies under a float dominate when water clarity is decent; switch to darker, heavier flies when flows run high and stained. Water temperature drives everything here: steelhead become lethargic below freezing but still bite, and fall salmon push hardest on fresh rainfall that raises flows and triggers upstream movement. When targeting bass and walleye in warmer months, work current-break structure with soft plastics or small crankbaits in the slower lower reaches where the gradient flattens out.