Best cisco (lake herring) lakes in Alberta
32 Alberta waters list cisco (lake herring) (official records or labelled estimates), 30 mapped with survey or official-chart depth data. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality, leading with the waters in our reviewed search catalog — 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.
- Lesser Slave Lake — 69 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #1: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 2 public access sites
- Lac la Biche — 73 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #2: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Cold Lake — 325 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake TroutWhy #3: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 3 public access sites
- Utikuma Lake — 20 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #4: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Winefred Lake — 50 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #5: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Fawcett Lake — 70 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #6: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Frog Lake — 90 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #7: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Moose Lake — 60 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #8: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 11 public access sites
- Wolf Lake — 131 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #9: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Pinehurst Lake — 70 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #10: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- North Buck Lake — 20 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #11: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 1 public access site
- Marie Lake — 85 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Yellow PerchWhy #12: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Seibert Lake — 30 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #13: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Touchwood Lake — 131 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake TroutWhy #14: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Gregoire Lake — 23 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #15: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Nipisi Lake — 23 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish, Cisco (Lake Herring)Why #16: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Iosegun Lake — 35 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #17: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Kehiwin Lake — 32 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #18: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Whitefish Lake — 110 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #19: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Skeleton Lake — 55 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #20: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Lac la Nonne — 65 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #21: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 1 public access site
- Baptiste Lake — 83 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, BurbotWhy #22: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Amisk Lake — 191 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #23: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Goodfish Lake — 61 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #24: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Crane Lake — 85 ft · Survey depth data · real survey depth contours · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, BurbotWhy #25: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
…plus 7 more Alberta waters holding cisco (lake herring).
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How to use this ranking
The order is a map-planning ranking, not a claim about today's fish population. It favors larger mapped waters and gives survey-backed contours a three-times data-quality boost. Agency population surveys, current regulations, access and recent conditions should make the final decision.
Compare maximum depth across 37,233 lake records · See Alberta waters with public access data
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 · British Columbia · Québec · Michigan · Germany · New York · Saskatchewan · Manitoba