Also called king salmon, chinook salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon. While specimens exceeding 100 pounds have been taken on the Pacific coast, New York State's record fish is a 47 pounder caught in Lake Ontario. Chinook salmon have a limited distribution in New York State and are only found in lakes Erie and Ontario. Non-natives of New York State, chinooks were first stocked into the Great Lakes in 1873. Although they were sporadically stocked throughout the years, it was not until about 20 years ago that they became abundant. At that time, New York State aggressively stocked chinooks into lakes Erie and Ontario to provide a sport fishery. Using the then tremendous population of alewives as a food source, chinooks thrived and produced a spectacular fishery. Since there is not enough suitable spawning and nursery area to naturally produce enough fish, most of the salmon caught in New York State's Great Lakes are hatchery-reared.

While adult chinooks spend most of their time in deeper, open water, they will follow prey fish into nearshore areas in early spring and late summer or early fall. Sexually mature chinooks congregate or "stage" around the mouths of streams in the fall in preparation for making their spawning runs. September normally marks the arrival of the earliest run of fish into lake tributaries, and peak runs occur in October. Spawning is completed by early November and the adult salmon die shortly thereafter.

There are two distinctly different types of fishing opportunity for chinooks - open water and tributary. Open water, or boat fishing on Lake Ontario, usually involves trolling flashy spoons or other bait fish imitations. Since chinooks are often suspended in the water column, meaning neither right below the surface nor on the bottom, lures must be presented at the appropriate depths. The salmon tend to move farther offshore as spring gives way to summer, and they may be five miles or more offshore until the pre-spawning staging movements occur. Juvenile salmon, which may weight up to 15 pounds, remain suspended offshore while the larger adults weighing 15 to 30+ pounds move to their staging area.

In rivers, chinook salmon may be taken using a variety of angling techniques. Salmon egg sacs (or clusters), flashy spoons, or deep diving plugs are effective in the lower river portions, while egg sacs and other egg imitations, including artificial flies, are good in faster upstream water areas. Major Lake Ontario tributaries having chinook salmon runs include the Salmon River, Oswego River, Genesee River, Oak Orchard Creek and Eighteen Mile Creek.