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Best cisco (lake herring) lakes in Alberta

20 Alberta waters hold cisco (lake herring), 20 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. Pelagic coldwater herring — suspends over deep basins chasing plankton, spawns on late-fall shoals, and shines as a winter ice target.

1. Utikuma Lake — 20 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
2. Winefred Lake — 50 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
3. Fawcett Lake — 70 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
4. Frog Lake — 90 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
5. Pinehurst Lake — 70 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
6. North Buck Lake — 20 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
7. Wolf Lake — 131 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
8. Seibert Lake — 30 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
9. Gregoire Lake — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
10. Nipisi Lake — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish, Cisco (Lake Herring)
11. Iosegun Lake — 35 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
12. Lac la Nonne — 65 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
13. Kehiwin Lake — 32 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
14. Skeleton Lake — 55 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
15. Crane Lake — 85 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Burbot
16. Goodfish Lake — 61 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
17. Square Lake — 125 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Yellow Perch
18. Burnt Lake — 16 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
19. Hilda Lake — 46 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish
20. May Lake — 46 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish

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When to fish cisco (lake herring) in Alberta

• Spring 10–40 ft — Post-ice-out schools roam the upper column over deep water — follow the bait clouds on the graph, not the bank.
• Summer 40–80 ft — Locked below the thermocline, suspended over the deepest basins. Vertical presentations at the school's exact depth or nothing.
• Fall 5–25 ft — The late-fall spawn puts silver schools on shallow gravel shoals and windswept rock — the one time they're everyone's fish.
• Winter 20–60 ft — A premier ice species — suspended schools cruise the basin mid-column. Watch the flasher and chase the marks.

Also in Alberta: best walleye lakes · best northern pike lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best lake trout lakes · best brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best lake whitefish lakes · best burbot lakes · best arctic grayling lakes · best cutthroat trout lakes

Cisco (Lake Herring) elsewhere: Ontario · Minnesota · Québec · Michigan · New York · Manitoba