The majority of sportfishing activity on the Salmon River takes place on the portion of the river that stretches between Lake Ontario and the Lighthouse Hill Dam in Altmar. Here, anglers target river-running salmon and trout species that move upstream from the lake in order to spawn. The anadromous sportfish species that comprise these seasonal runs are the Chinook salmon ("Oncorhynchus tshawytscha"), coho salmon ("O. kisutch"), brown trout ("Salmo trutta"), Atlantic salmon ("S. salar"), and winter and summer-run strains of steelhead ("O. mykiss"). Salmon fishing on the river is accomplished either by casting from shore, using waders to fish from within the river, or fishing from a drift boat, typically operated by a guide.