Stunted growth?

[Chris338378]

There is a lake where I live where you can catch 5 or 5 inch perch all day long.  To me it would seem if there are small perch there should be bigger perch but I never caught any.  Is it possible that their growth has been stunted or is it that the big ones there just haven't bit on my lures? 

[Yooper77]

Try using larger lures and or minnows, up higher than the school of little ones. The big ones might come up for them. I fish a lake that I believe is stunted also. You can drop a line anywhere in the lake it seems and catch those little bait robbers 1 right after the other. Put my camera down there and they are all less than 8".

[Jig4M]

Maybe there's too many of them in the lake. Doesn't that stunt their growth?

[Yooper77]

Maybe there's too many of them in the lake. Doesn't that stunt their growth?

Exactly there are too many fish competing for the amount of naturally supplied food in the lake. not enough predators to thin them out. Just my $.02

[monoped]

On a couple lakes where areas,usually sandy or very short weed growth seemed to be carpeted with little perch there were still other age classes. Though few, from predation or poor recruitment of a spawn cycle. One lake had quite a die off late winter early spring of the perch. The older age classes acted a little like walleye. One lake had them at late ice in mild current at its outlet. On the other lake they would come up from deeper water just before dark to be in a foot to two foot weeds and would take minnows offered till dark.
One guy would sight fish in shallow water through many holes and could scratch up a half dozen or so. but on the "flats"it would take about 50 fish to get a keeper. Not saying bigger ones are where you are fishing. Health and belly contents of a couple plump ones may have clues.