Sockeye smolts, at least, use something like that to leave the rearing lake. They are "programmed" to find the outlet in a certain direction. So, if you took Baker Lake fish, that go south, into a lake that drains north, few would find their way out.

Sockeye show some of the most fascinating hardwiring for migration. They spawn in lake inlets, outlets, in the lake, and so on. The most complex must swim downstream to a mainstem and the upstream to the lake. Has been demonstrated to be (obviously) genetic. The mechanism has to be some sort of magnetism as they are going someplace they have never been.