Once the most abundant fish in Lake Michigan -- historical commercial catches exceeded 30 million pounds annually. Silvery, streamlined, and schooling in massive open-water aggregations. Critically important forage species for lake trout, muskellunge, and northern pike. Also called "lake herring." Has been listed as Michigan Threatened due to catastrophic population decline from overfishing and sea lamprey predation.
| Lake | County | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon Lake | Montmorency | — | |
| Cisco Lake | Gogebic | — | |
| Fish Lake | Barry | — | |
| Green Lake | Allegan | — | |
| Harwood Lake | Cass | — | |
| Hemlock Lake | Hillsdale | — | |
| Klinger Lake | St. Joseph | — | |
| Les Cheneaux Islands, Lk Huron | Mackinac | — | |
| Lime Lake | Barry | — | |
| Otter Lake | Houghton | — | |
| Potagannissing Bay | Chippewa | — | |
| Shavehead Lake | Cass | — | |
| St. Marys River | Chippewa | — | |
| Thousand Island Lake | Gogebic | — | |
| Thousand Island Lake | Gogebic | — | |
| Twin Lake 2,3,4,5 | Cheboygan | — | |
| Vandercook Lake | Jackson | — | |
|
Burt Lake
17,120 acres
|
Cheboygan | Michigan Threatened -- handle carefully, report catches to MDNR | |
|
Charlevoix Lake
17,260 acres
|
Charlevoix | Michigan Threatened -- handle carefully, report catches to MDNR | |
|
Crystal Lake
9,854 acres
|
Benzie | Michigan Threatened -- handle carefully, report catches to MDNR |
No stocking records are on file for Cisco.
This is common for several reasons: this species may reproduce naturally and not require stocking (e.g. Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike), it may be managed under a different program not tracked here, or records may predate our database. For the most current data, check the Michigan DNR Stocking Database directly.