← British Columbia fishing maps

Best cisco (lake herring) lakes in British Columbia

9 British Columbia waters hold cisco (lake herring), 1 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. Atlin Lake — 930 ft max · Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Burbot
2. Teslin Lake — 702 ft max · Northern Pike, Chinook Salmon, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish
3. Tutshi Lake — 646 ft max · Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Burbot
4. Maxhamish Lake — 39 ft max · survey depth data · Walleye, Northern Pike, Lake Whitefish, Burbot
5. Chismaina Lake — 95 ft max · Northern Pike, Chinook Salmon, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish
6. Hyland Lake — 39 ft max · Northern Pike, Lake Whitefish, Burbot, Cisco (Lake Herring)
7. Trout Lake — 89 ft max · Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Arctic Grayling
8. Swift Lake — 100 ft max · Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Lake Whitefish, Burbot
9. Lupin Lakes — 7 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Kokanee, Lake Whitefish, Cisco (Lake Herring)

Find the closest cisco (lake herring) waters to you →

When to fish cisco (lake herring) in British Columbia

• 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 British Columbia: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best northern pike lakes · best crappie lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best chinook salmon lakes · best coho salmon lakes · best steelhead lakes · best lake trout lakes · best brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best kokanee lakes · best lake whitefish lakes · best burbot lakes · best arctic grayling lakes · best cutthroat trout lakes · best pumpkinseed lakes · best brown bullhead lakes

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