Ontario Lake Depths

Game fish · trout and salmon family

Lake whitefish

Coregonus clupeaformis

Native to OntarioRecorded in 82 Ontario lakes
Illustration of a lake whitefish in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
30–65 cm (12–26 in), about 0.9–1.8 kg (2–4 lb)
Found in
Cold, deep water below the thermocline; 8–14 °C (46–57 °F) preferred
Spawns
Fall, on rocky shoals under 9 m (30 ft), once water is below 8 °C (46 °F)
Eats
Bottom invertebrates, molluscs and small fish

Where lake whitefish have been recorded

82 of the 1,347 Ontario lakes on this site with angler catch reports list lake whitefish, across 20 counties and districts. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Nipissing, Nipissing DistrictLake Simcoe, York RegionMinnitaki Lake, Kenora DistrictWanapitei Lake, Sudbury DistrictNight Hawk Lake, Cochrane DistrictPanache Lake, Sudbury DistrictNorthern Light Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictBig Vermilion Lake, Kenora DistrictLake of Bays, MuskokaLake Rosseau, MuskokaLake Joseph, MuskokaLake Kagawong, Manitoulin DistrictBig Rideau Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleConfederation Lake, Kenora DistrictMatinenda Lake, Algoma DistrictIndian Lake, Kenora DistrictLarder Lake, Timiskaming DistrictFrederick House Lake, Cochrane DistrictMindemoya Lake, Manitoulin DistrictBrunswick Lake, Algoma DistrictGolden Lake, Renfrew CountyCharleston Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleWakomata Lake, Algoma DistrictChipman Lake, Cochrane DistrictPagwachuan Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictAbram Lake, Kenora DistrictRemi Lake, Cochrane DistrictLower Shebandowan Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictRabbit Lake, Nipissing DistrictBig Canon Lake, Kenora DistrictLake Bernard, Parry Sound DistrictTrout Lake, Nipissing DistrictKukagami Lake, Sudbury DistrictWababimiga Lake, Cochrane DistrictLake Clear, Renfrew CountySharbot Lake, Frontenac CountyJack Lake, Peterborough CountyGrey Trout Lake, Kenora DistrictSkootamatta Lake, Lennox and Addington CountyRound Lake, Timiskaming DistrictWindy Lake, Sudbury DistrictGull Lake, Haliburton CountyKapiskong Lake, Sudbury DistrictEnglish River, Kenora DistrictDrag Lake, Haliburton CountyEels Lake, Peterborough CountyHaliburton Lake, Haliburton CountyKenogami Lake, Timiskaming DistrictKabenung Lake, Algoma DistrictPaugh Lake, Renfrew CountyEagle Lake, Frontenac CountyWawa Lake (lac Wawa), Algoma DistrictChristie Lake, Lanark CountyHalls Lake, Haliburton CountyCumming's Lake, Algoma DistrictCrystal Lake, Peterborough CountyHannah Lake, Sudbury DistrictOff Lake, Rainy River DistrictRaynar Lake, Cochrane DistrictMississagua Lake, Peterborough CountyMaple Lake, Haliburton CountyMount Lake, Algoma DistrictWhitefish Lake, Parry Sound DistrictMoose Lake, Haliburton CountyCarson Lake, Renfrew CountyShabomeka Lake, Frontenac CountyEagle Lake, Haliburton CountyFanshawe Lake, LondonOwlet Lake, Cochrane DistrictKecil Lake, Sudbury DistrictGeorge Lake, Sudbury DistrictGrindstone Lake, Frontenac CountyCentre Lake, Haliburton CountySecret Lake, Kenora DistrictFallingsnow Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictKulas Lake, Renfrew CountyLittle Hannah Lake, Sudbury DistrictArrow Lake (North East), Thunder Bay DistrictBoland's Lake, Sudbury DistrictMorrow Lake, Renfrew CountyConcession Lake, Peterborough CountyWhitefish River, Sudbury District

Recorded here Other lakes with catch reports

How we know

  • 82lakes where an angler logged one in Fish ON-Line; on 53 of them a single trip, one angler’s report

Self-reported by anglers, not a Ministry survey. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: a lake appears here only once an angler has logged this fish there.

Ontario stocks lake whitefish only in Lake Simcoe, releasing fall fingerlings to protect that lake's own genetic stock.

Inland lakes on this list run from 13 to 221,497 acres (median 2,809) and from 15 to 408 ft deep (median 106.5 ft).

When and how anglers catch lake whitefish

From 150 trip reports naming lake whitefish on the lakes above, logged by anglers in Ontario’s Fish ON-Line app. These are self-reported trips, not a Ministry survey: they show when and how people fish for them, not how many fish a lake holds.

Trips by month

The busiest month is February (21% of trips); 39% were logged December–February (lighter bars).

How they were fishing

From a boat44%
From shore3%
Through the ice53%

Share of the 150 trips that recorded boat, shore or ice.

Fish reported

358 lake whitefish reported on these trips. Anglers kept 71% of the ones they reported and released the rest. The app records no sizes.

Lakes on this site with the most trips

  1. Lake Simcoe, York Region 11
  2. Lake of Bays, Muskoka 8
  3. Raynar Lake, Cochrane District 7
  4. Haliburton Lake, Haliburton 6
  5. Lake Bernard, Parry Sound District 5
  6. Moose Lake, Haliburton 5
  7. Kukagami Lake, Sudbury District 4
  8. Lake Clear, Renfrew 4
  9. Morrow Lake, Renfrew 4
  10. Minnitaki Lake, Kenora District 3

Trips that logged this fish on each lake. A busy lake gets more trips; this is not a ranking of fishing quality. 53 of the 82 lakes are listed on a single trip, one angler’s report.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

A silvery fish with a greenish-brown back, a snout that hangs over the small mouth, and a slight hump behind the head. The body is oval in cross-section and the tail is deeply forked.

Don’t confuse it with

Round whitefish — Round whitefish is smaller and round in cross-section, where lake whitefish is deeper and oval.
Cisco — In cisco the snout does not overhang the mouth; in lake whitefish it clearly does.

Life in an Ontario lake

Lake whitefish live in the Great Lakes and in deep, cold inland lakes across Ontario, north to the coastal waters of Hudson Bay. Through summer they hold deep, below the warm surface layer, feeding on invertebrates along the bottom, though in Far North lakes they also use shallower water. They are easiest to catch in winter and spring.

In late fall, as the water cools, they gather on shoals and scatter their eggs over rock and gravel; the eggs sit through the winter and hatch in spring. Fish mature at around four to seven years and can live well past 20. Some Ontario stocks are special cases: the large-bodied and small-bodied whitefish of Opeongo Lake are listed as threatened in the province.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Before fishing, check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary for your Fisheries Management Zone, any exceptions for the waterbody, and your licence type. Angler catch reports show what people logged, not what is legal to catch or keep. Fish ON-Line itself (how to use it) maps the zones and exceptions. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish.

All 82 lakes with lake whitefish

Show every lake, by county

Algoma District 7

Brunswick Lake, Cumming's Lake, Kabenung Lake, Matinenda Lake, Mount Lake, Wakomata Lake, Wawa Lake (lac Wawa)

Cochrane District 7

Chipman Lake, Frederick House Lake, Night Hawk Lake, Owlet Lake, Raynar Lake, Remi Lake, Wababimiga Lake

Frontenac County 4

Eagle Lake, Grindstone Lake, Shabomeka Lake, Sharbot Lake

Haliburton County 8

Centre Lake, Drag Lake, Eagle Lake, Gull Lake, Haliburton Lake, Halls Lake, Maple Lake, Moose Lake

Kenora District 9

Abram Lake, Big Canon Lake, Big Vermilion Lake, Confederation Lake, English River, Grey Trout Lake, Indian Lake, Minnitaki Lake, Secret Lake

Lanark County 1

Christie Lake

Leeds and Grenville 2

Big Rideau Lake, Charleston Lake

Lennox and Addington County 1

Skootamatta Lake

London 1

Fanshawe Lake

Manitoulin District 2

Lake Kagawong, Mindemoya Lake

Muskoka 3

Lake Joseph, Lake Rosseau, Lake of Bays

Nipissing District 3

Lake Nipissing, Rabbit Lake, Trout Lake

Parry Sound District 2

Lake Bernard, Whitefish Lake

Peterborough County 5

Concession Lake, Crystal Lake, Eels Lake, Jack Lake, Mississagua Lake

Rainy River District 1

Off Lake

Renfrew County 6

Carson Lake, Golden Lake, Kulas Lake, Lake Clear, Morrow Lake, Paugh Lake

Sudbury District 11

Boland's Lake, George Lake, Hannah Lake, Kapiskong Lake, Kecil Lake, Kukagami Lake, Little Hannah Lake, Panache Lake, Wanapitei Lake, Whitefish River, Windy Lake

Thunder Bay District 5

Arrow Lake (North East), Fallingsnow Lake, Lower Shebandowan Lake, Northern Light Lake, Pagwachuan Lake

Timiskaming District 3

Kenogami Lake, Larder Lake, Round Lake

York Region 1

Lake Simcoe

Sources

← All fish of Ontario