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Best cisco (lake herring) lakes in Alberta

22 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. Green Lake — 142 ft max · Walleye, Northern Pike, Lake Whitefish, BurbotWhy #1: mapped size signal; contours are approximated · no verified access record attached
2. Utikuma Lake — 20 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #2: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
3. Sandy Lake — 164 ft max · Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Trout, Lake WhitefishWhy #3: mapped size signal; contours are approximated · no verified access record attached
4. Winefred Lake — 50 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #4: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
5. Fawcett Lake — 70 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #5: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
6. Frog Lake — 90 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #6: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
7. Wolf Lake — 131 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #7: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
8. Pinehurst Lake — 70 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #8: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
9. North Buck Lake — 20 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #9: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 1 public access site
10. Seibert Lake — 30 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #10: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
11. Gregoire Lake — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #11: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
12. Nipisi Lake — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake Whitefish, Cisco (Lake Herring)Why #12: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
13. Iosegun Lake — 35 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #13: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
14. Kehiwin Lake — 32 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #14: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
15. Skeleton Lake — 55 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #15: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
16. Lac la Nonne — 65 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #16: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 1 public access site
17. Goodfish Lake — 61 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #17: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
18. Crane Lake — 85 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, BurbotWhy #18: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
19. Square Lake — 125 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Yellow PerchWhy #19: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
20. Burnt Lake — 16 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #20: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
21. Hilda Lake — 46 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #21: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
22. May Lake — 46 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Lake WhitefishWhy #22: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached

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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 · British Columbia · Québec · Michigan · Germany · New York · Saskatchewan · Manitoba