Does deeper water = bigger perch?

[DaveB]

I fish for perch in upstate ny on lake Champlain.  Primarily in 12 fow or less, kings bay, deep bay, Monty's bay, catfish bay, etc.  I never seem to catch many big one (7 inch plus).  I am wondering if the bigger perch are in deep water, or is this just what to expect in northern ny. 

I have tried pin heads, wax worms, colored spikes, and plastics but all I ever catch or see through the hole are small perch.

I see people fishing near the edges of ice where the water is deeper but I don't know if it is because there are more fish there or if that's where the bigger ones are.

I fish for fun and rarely keep anything anyway, but would be nice to catch more than dinks once in a while.

Dave

[TeeBugg]

Yes and no for me. Ive fished sodus bay before in shallow water 10' or less and caught some real nice perch.  Other days ive gone out deeper only to find a bunch of dinks. I have had really good luck when i find a school and all im catching is dinks...to upsize my jig and plastics. Not trying to sway anyone but i seem to catch more quality fish on plastics. But thats my opinion! Keep at em!

[Idahogator]

So true, it depends on several things, like sun brightness, time into the season & oxygen depletion, or just weird perch, ha. I have caught HUGE perch just 4" under the ice and they are usually in pods/schools of 3 to 10, and all the same size in each group.  The most fun is the fish fry.   

[adkRoy]

I have caught dink perch in 60 feet of water while some of the biggest perch I've caught have been shallow. Here's some jumbo perch I caught in only 6 feet of water

[Idahogator]

WOW Roy. Keepers for sure.    I've caught a few like that just inches under February ice.  They don't move much and do a lot of "nose bumps", ha. 

[jabers69]

we have got some nice one in about 4 to 6 feet of water , but get most where we fish in about  10 to 12  feet

[SeisMec]

Nice fish Roy!

[Swift]

Depends on the lake, the food chain and time of year. Deeper lakes tend to have bigger fish but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're all deep all the time. Of the panfish types learning the ways of Perch is the toughest to figure out on most any body of water, they move the most. It will take years to figure the movements during the full course of a season. You may stumble into them one day and hit'em for a few days, then they're gone. Go find them again and keep track of it. Generalized patterns over time will show. IF they aren't specifically where you think they should be for the time of year you at least have an idea. Then a reasonable starting point to find them would be the before or after areas from the past. Not always the solution but increasing the data bank once they're found is never a bad thing. No real shortcuts to it, somebody took the time to figure it out

[Jigmup]

Deeper flats in Mid-Winter are where I target perch. Early ice and late ice I hit the shallow flats and bars.

[Idahogator]

Swift, good advice and all the more reason to keep a fishing diary.   

How soon we forget.     

[Townie]

I've fished several spots that held jumbos in 4-5' shallows but my best perch have come from 20' basins

[dennisthemence]

all i can say is them jumbos are where ya find them. i have caught them as shallow as 2 fow and as deep as 110 fow. depends on what they are feeding on, what time of the year or what type of weather pattern going on.

[ckfish]

A local pond near me is very shallow and I catch massive perch all the time in 2-3 fow. I think it all depends on the body of water.

[racer25r]

the biggest perch I ever caught was in 3 ft of water.

[adkRoy]

Jumbo perch my wife caught on a tip-up baited with an 8 inch sucker in 60 feet of water last year:

[RapShack]

I've got big perch as shallow as 3 feet.  I would suggest upsizing your presentations a bit.  If you can have extra lines set tipups with large fatheads a foot off the bottom, and try some bigger jigs.  Buckshot spoons, Swedish pimples, size 3 and 5 Jigging Raps.  Tip them with a minnow head and don't be shy about pounding bottom to draw fish in.