Each fall, tributaries to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain are home to salmon returning to spawn. This can make for some exciting fish watching as salmon move upstream and jump or otherwise navigate various obstructions on their way to their desired spawning sites.
New York is home to a native migratory salmon, the Atlantic salmon. Atlantic salmon are found in many NYS waters as a result of DEC’s efforts to reintroduce this species to its native range. Although natural reproduction has been documented, spawning runs of these fish are best found in the Salmon River flowing into Lake Ontario and the Bouquet and Saranac rivers flowing into Lake Champlain.
Coho and Chinook salmon, native to the Pacific Ocean, have been stocked in Lake Ontario since the late 1960s. Good runs of Chinook and Coho salmon can be found in many Lake Ontario tributaries.
Photo of spawning salmon courtesy U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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