one of the places i go to target perch, it's pretty much a swarm situation; hundreds upon hundreds of fish under 5 inches, with the occasional 8-9 incher, and a slim chance of encountering fish in the 10+ inch range.
small jigs with bait are totally worthless. i spend more time unhooking finger-length perch than i do fishing. i try upsizing, and the bite pretty much shuts off (notable exception, a large jig tipped with a bit of bait fished deadstick a few feet off bottom, and a few feet from my jigging hole often gets bit by larger perch).
so rather than upsize, i've been doing a couple things:
1. use soft plastics rather than bait. small fish may nip at the tails on a soft plastic, but they don't commit and inhale it like larger perch will. i like the bro bloodworm or a tungsten jig tipped with a makiplastics maki.
2. upsize, but add a dropper fly about a foot above the lure. a woolly bugger, pheasant tail or hare's ear are all fantastic options. don't add bait to the fly, and pay close attention for light bites. that'll usually be a larger fish skipping the crowd of small ones that come to investigate your lure, and just sucking in the little fly.
3. smaller, but more aggressive lures. i'm fond of the smallest jigging rapalas and salmo chubby darters in gold, silver, glow, or perch colors. maybe tip the center treble with a single maggot, or some other small morsel for a bit of scent to seal the deal. flashy jigging spoons are good too, and you wanna be pretty active. pop-pop-pause... lift-pause... tap-tap-tap-tap-drop-pause... set the hook when you feel a tap or when you all of a sudden feel like your lure has gone mushy. most often, i get hit on the pause.