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Salmon River Fishing Report, New York

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Pulaski’s legend: the Salmon River stacks Great Lakes kings, coho and steelhead thicker than any tributary in the East.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
248 cfs
Air / High
51 / 56 F
Wind
WNW 2 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04250200, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Salmon River feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. The river is running 248 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 2 mph, rising pressure near 1029 hPa and a high of 56. Water sits around 55 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:08 PM-12:08 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Brown troutExcellent

Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Tomorrow: Similar at 60 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

New York requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $25.00 for residents. What a New York licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing steelhead here? Check the size and bag limits with DEC before you keep anything. The season dates for New York, read off the agency, are on the New York seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Salmon River at Pineville.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04250200.

223242262248 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 33 years of October 23

At 248 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04250200 (Salmon River at Pineville) is below the lowest daily mean on record for the date: much below normal. In half of the 33 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 478 cfs; the highest was 2,330 cfs and the lowest 250 cfs.

p10 327median 478p90 1,736

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04250200; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp51 F
High / Low56 / 32 F
WindWNW 2-8 mph
Pressure1029.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:28 / 18:08
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~55 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Salmon River this week

The best day on Salmon River this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:08 PM-12:08 AM
Minor period
3:60 AM-4:60 AM
Sun
07:28 to 18:08
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Salmon River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Close to Vermont's 53-66°F optimum, browns feed more freely; in fall, pre-spawn fish move toward tributaries and gravel, so fish streamers and keep off the redds.

When to come: the Salmon River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Steelhead
Smallmouth bass
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 55 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~55 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Salmon River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 56 F, wind to 6 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Brown trout led the card at excellent. High of 63 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

New York requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

New York license. Snagging is prohibited, gear and season rules are strictly enforced, and fly-fishing-only sections have specific boundaries: read current DEC Salmon River regulations carefully.

Access

Free state access at Pineville, Altmar and Route 52; Douglaston Salmon Run (fee) on the lower river; hatchery access at Altmar.

About this water

A 17-mile Lake Ontario tributary through Pulaski, Oswego County, New York: the East’s premier Chinook, coho and steelhead river.

Fishing Salmon River: the full guide

The Great Lakes machine

The Salmon River runs 17 miles from the Lighthouse Hill reservoir to Lake Ontario at Port Ontario, and from September through April it hosts the densest salmonid runs in the eastern United States. Chinook salmon arrive in September in numbers that fill every pool, coho follow, and steelhead: the real prize: hold from October clear through April, joined by brown trout and Atlantic salmon. Pulaski’s economy runs on it, and so do the crowds.

Salmon season, then the good part

The king run peaks late September into October: heavy tackle, egg sacs and flies drifted through pools, with combat-fishing etiquette that visitors should learn before arriving. When the salmon finish and the crowds thin, the real fishery opens: steelhead spread through the whole river from November through April, eating eggs, beads, jigs and swung flies in water that stays open thanks to guaranteed minimum releases from the reservoir.

Fly-fishing-only and the flows

Two designated fly-fishing-only sections (upper and lower) offer relief from the crowds and superb swing water. Releases are scheduled and published: 185 cfs is the common winter flow, with higher recreational releases in summer and after rain. Higher water spreads fish and improves the swing; low, clear winter water demands finesse, small beads and long leaders. Ice-up and February thaws concentrate steelhead in the deep pools.

Pulaski practicalities

Access is everywhere: the Douglaston Salmon Run (private, day fee, no crowds) on the lower river, the free state access points at Pineville, Altmar and the Route 52 bridges, and the Salmon River Fish Hatchery at Altmar. Book lodging early for October. Winter steelheading here requires cleated boots, layered wading and an appetite for cold: the reward is chrome fish in double-digit numbers on a good day.

Common questions

When should I fish for steelhead?

November through April. December and March are the sweet spots: good numbers, fewer anglers than the salmon run and fresh chrome after every thaw.

How crowded is the salmon run?

Shoulder to shoulder in the famous pools during late September. If crowds bother you, fish the fly-only water, the Douglaston run, or wait for steelhead season.

What flow is best?

The standard 185 cfs fishes fine for wading and drifting; 335 cfs and up spreads fish out and favors swinging flies from a boat or the bigger runs.

Is fishing good at Salmon River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Oswego River20 miOneida Lake27 miOtisco Lake47 miOwasco Lake53 miCayuga Lake67 miSeneca Lake72 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04250200 — Salmon River at Pineville
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 15:15 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 43.5650, -76.1350 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.