A river’s promise
According to popular legend, local anglers send tourists to the Ausable River whenever they inquire about the North Country’s best fishing.
When fishing themselves, though, they head for the Saranac.
As cover stories go, it scarcely seems necessary. When fishing for land-locked salmon, the uninitiated would naturally imagine bubbling waters racing through thick green forests and towering mountain majesties.
Who would think that for some of the best salmon fishing on the west side of Lake Champlain, anglers head straight into the heart of the City of Plattsburgh?
Three rivers flow from the Adirondacks into Lake Champlain. From north to south: Saranac, Ausable and Boquet. Of the three, the Saranac and Boquet are the most acclaimed for landlocked salmon, similar to seagoing Atlantic salmon, though smaller.
The Saranac, while a popular salmon-fishing destination near its mouth, isn’t what it once was. Salmon can reach only as far as Imperial Mills Dam, a fish blocker 3 miles
