Salé Lake is a widening of the Coacoachou River, which flows from north to south for about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) and empties into Coacoachou bay, an indentation in the Saint Lawrence coast about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Natashquan The bay is the only harbor on this part of the coast for mid-sized ships, but the many shoals and rocks make the entrance difficult.

This river is frequented by an enormous quantity of trout, and these, according to M. de Puxjalon (1899), are sometimes of surprising size, activity, and vigor, which one meets only in this stream.

The Innu language term koakoachu or coacoacho means "wolverine" or "savage devil", a greedy, cunning and carnivorous animal.

[4] Initially the Innu people of the region used the rivers freely as highways and sources of fish.

[6] In 2017 all salmon, large and small, had to be released on the Malbaie (Gaspé Peninsula), Pigou, Bouleau, Magpie, Coacoachou, Nétagamiou, Little Mécatina and Véco rivers.