Cisco Lake

Gogebic County, Michigan · MI DNR bathymetric survey

20ft Max
depth

573 acres 8 contours Public access 28% weedy

Paddling Index67Mixedwooded shoreline

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Depth scale

0567810111520

The lake

Survey readout

Cisco Lake is mapped to a depth of 20 ft on the Michigan DNR survey and covers about 573 acres in Gogebic County, Michigan.

Measured from the Michigan DNR inland-lake contour survey (depths read from the survey's isobath field; this lake's summary-depth column is blank in the source).

Deepest sounding: 20 ft
Mean depth: 7.8 ft · estimated
Surface area: 573 acres
Estimated volume: 4,506 acre-ft · 1,468M gal
Shoreline: 12.98 mi · irregular
Aquatic vegetation: 28% of surface · NDVI estimate
Public access: Boat Launch

Additional depth details8 contours

Contour depths: 0–20 ft
Recorded point soundings: 20 ft, 20 ft, 11 ft, 10 ft, 8 ft, 7 ft

57.2% of the surface sits over water shallower than 10 ft. Depth, area and volume are estimated from the interpolated survey surface — historical reference, not measurement.

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Location

Gogebic County, Michigan · 15 nearest of 135 lakes · tap a dot for that lake

Chart data

Provenance

Sources: MI DNR inland lake contours, USGS 3DEP, USDA NAIP (public domain), OpenStreetMap (ODbL), MI DNR Boat Launches.

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Map details & sources5 sources

All layers registered to one bounding box; positions in WGS 84.

Survey-derived depth contours drape over USGS 3DEP elevation, with a USDA NAIP aerial basemap and OpenStreetMap shoreline. Colour shows surveyed depth; dark lines are the survey's own isobaths.

Coordinates: 46.23656, -89.44455
MI DNR lake ID: L45780
Vertical exaggeration: 3.0×
Basemap: USDA NAIP · public domain
Model size: 2.4 MB

Paddling

Paddling Index methodology v1.0 · calculated 2026-08-21

67 / 100MixedData confidence: High

Cisco Lake has a heavily wooded and largely undeveloped setting, moderate open-water exposure, some nearby classified roads. No special watercraft restriction is identified in the current source.

Why this score?5 components

Included in the index

Component	Rating	Points of weight	Measurement
Natural setting	Excellent	24.2 of 30	82% natural land cover within 150 m of shore (44% forest, 36% wetland; 14% developed)
Geometric wind exposure	Good	13.5 of 25	mean fetch 1,247 m · 11% of sampled water within 500 m of shelter · moderate open-water fetch
Watercraft controls	None identified	7.5 of 15	No special watercraft restriction identified in the current DNR source. Motors permitted, subject to general law.
Public access	Good	12.8 of 15	1 site with DNR boating-facility records · 1 ramp lane · 8 trailer spaces
Road isolation	Good	9.0 of 15	some nearby classified roads · 17 MDOT-classified segments within 1.2 km, peak 166 vehicles/day

Additional paddling considerations

These describe the lake but are not part of the v1 Paddling Index and do not change the number above.

Wake sensitivity: Low — wide enough that wakes disperse over most of the lake
Aquatic vegetation: Moderate — approximately 28% mapped coverage · NAIP aerial imagery (NDVI)
Observed motorized activity: Unknown — No lake-level measurement of boat traffic is available. Legal permission to operate motors is not evidence of use.
Wildlife habitat potential: High — 44% forest and 36% wetland cover within 150 m of shore

Compare Michigan lakes by Paddling Index →

How this index is calculated. The Paddling Index is a relative composite derived from lake geometry and public environmental, access, roadway and watercraft-control data. It is not a user review, a safety rating, or a prediction of an individual outing. Differences of a few points should not be treated as meaningful — an 84 and an 82 are broadly comparable. Components and weights: natural setting 30%, geometric wind exposure 25%, watercraft controls 15%, public access 15%, road isolation 15%; observed motorboat activity is weighted 0% because no defensible lake-level measurement exists. Where a component has no data the remaining weights are renormalized and the confidence rating is lowered; below Medium confidence no number is shown. Sources: MI DNR Boating Access Sites (2026-08), MI DNR Watercraft Control Areas (2026-08), USGS/MRLC NLCD Land Cover (2021), MDOT Annual Average Daily Traffic (2025) and MI DNR bathymetric survey outline (0 ft isobath). Conditions change quickly — check current weather and local conditions before going out.

Fish you might catch

from angler catches, DNR surveys & active stocking

10 species with recent evidence in this lake — sized relative to each other. Illustrations are AI-generated representative adults in everyday colours, not photographs (provenance).

Muskellunge

Northern Pike

Walleye

Largemouth Bass

Brown Bullhead

Black Crappie

Yellow Perch

Bluegill

Rock Bass

Pumpkinseed

Historically stocked, no recent evidence: Tiger Muskellunge (last planted 1979) — not shown above.

Fishing rules for this lake Beta

Size and daily limits for the 10 species found here — 9 open to harvest, 1 with a special rule or closed season.

These are hook-and-line size, daily limit and season rules. Gear, spearing and bow fishing, spawning closures and rod limits are set by other Fisheries Orders and are not shown here.

Northern PikeSpecial rulesNamed in a fisheries order for this lake — see the rule text below

Black CrappieOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Beta. This panel is newly published. Every value is parsed from the Michigan DNR fisheries orders and hand-checked against the printed digest, but the coverage and wording are still under review. If anything here disagrees with the Michigan DNR's Fisheries Orders or its printed digest, the DNR is right — the signed Fisheries Order is the legal text; the digest summarises it.

BluegillOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Brown BullheadOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: no possession limit (2026 DNR digest · all other species)

Largemouth BassOpen to harvestMinimum size: 14" · Daily limit: 5 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 5 is in any combination of Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, not 5 of each (FO-215.23A).

MuskellungeOpen to harvestMinimum size: 42" · Limit: 1 per angler per year (FO-215 · statewide inland) Not a daily limit: one Muskellunge per angler per license year (April 1 – March 31), and harvest must be registered within 24 hours at Michigan.gov/RegisterFish. Catch-and-immediate-release is open all year (FO-215.23A Note 3).

Northern PikeSpecial rulesNamed in a fisheries order for this lake — see the rule text below

PumpkinseedOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

Rock BassOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland) The 25 is in any combination of the sunfishes — Bluegill, Pumpkinseed, Black and White Crappie, Rock Bass, Green, Longear and Redear Sunfish, Warmouth and hybrids — not 25 of each (FO-215.23A).

WalleyeOpen to harvestMinimum size: 15" · Daily limit: 5 (FO-215 · statewide inland)

Yellow PerchOpen to harvestMinimum size: no size limit · Daily limit: 25 (FO-215 · statewide inland)

Official rule text for this lake

“no size limit on Northern Pike and up to five (5) Northern Pike may be retained in the daily possession limit with only one (1) 24-inches or greater.” — FO-206

From FO-206.26 (eff. 2026-04-01) / FO-215.23A (eff. 2023-09-15) / FO-254.25 (eff. 2025-10-10), checked against the 2026 Michigan Fishing Regulations digest · verified 2026-08-24. Regulations can change — Michigan DNR rules are the controlling source; verify current regulations before fishing. Official regulations

Compiled from registered Master Angler catches, Michigan DNR fishery surveys and Michigan DNR stockings within the last 10 years. Silhouettes are stylized and scaled to typical adult sizes relative to one another. Presence is not a promise — fishing isn’t a sure thing.

Notable catches

Master Angler program · 1996–2007

Master Angler catches recorded on this lake — too few to show a pattern, so they are listed individually.

Muskellunge53.5″ · 2007 · spincasting

Muskellunge43″ · 1999 · spincasting

Muskellunge42″ · 1996 · spincasting · kam tail

Master Angler entries are fish that met the program’s minimum size and were registered by the angler — they show what this lake has produced, not what a day here will produce. A catch on record is history, not a species listing: “Fish you might catch” lists only species with current evidence. Source: Michigan DNR Master Angler data.

Fishery

1,925Fish sampled

10Species

Gamefish Walleye 69 · Northern Pike 37 · Largemouth Bass 14

Panfish Bluegill 700 · Pumpkinseed 588 · Yellow Perch 247

All survey species10 species

Gamefish

Walleye69 caught · to 26″

Northern Pike37 caught · to 22″

Largemouth Bass14 caught · to 15″

Panfish

Bluegill700 caught · to 8″

Pumpkinseed588 caught · to 7″

Yellow Perch247 caught · to 12″

Rock Bass100 caught · to 8″

Black Crappie74 caught · to 11″

Bullhead & catfish

Brown Bullhead95 caught · to 13″

Forage & nongame

Muskellunge1 caught

Stocking: Several species of fish, including yellow perch, walleye, and rainbow trout have been stocked through the years.

Length is the largest fish netted in the survey, not an angler record. Source: Michigan DNR Status of the Fishery Resource report (counts summed across survey years).

DNR stocking

state stocking record · 1979–2013

Fish the Michigan DNR has planted in this lake — what was added, distinct from what a survey netted above.

Walleye455,814 stocked · 1983–2013 · 24 plantings

Muskellunge400 stocked · 1981

Tiger muskellunge2,000 stocked · 1979

No stockings recorded since 2013 — shown as history.

Source: Michigan DNR Fish Stocking Database.

Non-native species records

3 records

Mussels & snails

Chinese Mysterysnail

Plants & algae

Curly-leaf Pondweed
Eurasian Watermilfoil

What does non-native mean?

USGS records identify non-native species that have been documented for this lake or its shoreline. Non-native does not necessarily mean invasive, and historical records do not confirm current presence.

Source: Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Conservation Planner; underlying nonindigenous species records from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.

Bait & tackle nearby

licensed retail bait dealers · straight-line distance

Wilderness Bay Lodge & Resort≈3.1 mi · (800) 445-5370E20060 Thousand Island Lake Rd, Watersmeet · Google · Apple

Dealers licensed by the Michigan DNR to sell live bait; listing is not an endorsement. Distances are straight-line, not driving — and call ahead: hours and stock change. Source: Michigan DNR retail bait dealer data.

Quick answers

Cisco Lake — common questions

How deep is Cisco Lake?

The deepest contour on the Michigan DNR bathymetric survey of Cisco Lake is 20 ft. That is the deepest depth the historical survey map records, which may differ from the deepest point of the lake itself.

How big is Cisco Lake?

Cisco Lake covers about 573 acres in Gogebic County, Michigan.

What is the average depth of Cisco Lake?

The estimated mean depth of Cisco Lake is 7.8 ft, calculated from the survey contours.

What fish are in Cisco Lake?

Species with survey, catch or recent-stocking evidence include largemouth bass, muskellunge, northern pike, walleye, black crappie, bluegill. The page lists all 10 species and the evidence behind each.

Is there public access to Cisco Lake?

Yes. The Michigan DNR boat-launch data identifies 1 public access site on Cisco Lake, including Cisco Lake.