The Salmon River is located in Oswego County and stretches 17 miles from the Lighthouse Hill Reservoir in Altmar to where it empties into Lake Ontario at Port Ontario.  It is considered to be the best place in the Northeast United states for salmon angling because of its high diversity of trophy-size salmon and trout including Chinook salmon, coho salmon , steelhead trout, Atlantic salmon, and brown trout.  Two major fish records have been set in the Salmon River: the Great Lakes record Chinook salmon (47 lbs. 13 oz.) and the world record Coho salmon (33 lbs. 4 oz.).

Maturing Chinook and Coho salmon returning to the Salmon River usually begin to stage off the Salmon River mouth in late August.  The fish range in size from 15-30 lbs., averaging around 18 lbs.  Brown trout enter the river from mid-September to mid-November. Brown trout are also on a spawning run, but will feed heavily on salmon eggs.