Limnology and Dink Perch question

[Jim_MI]

Seems like there are A LOT more dink perch around now in the lakes I fish.  In the past I would catch fewer fish, but it seems like they all were bigger.  Now I can catch a lot more perch, but they are smaller and the overall metric of "pounds-of-perch per square trip" is declining.  I know that this all depends on the health of the lake the population of predator fish, sustainabiliy of the invertebrate food chain base, etc.  But I fish 8-10 lakes on a regular basis ranging from about 20 acres all the way up to Lake Michigan, and I am seeing the same thing in all of them.  Is my memory playing tricks on me and I only recall the slabs, or are others seeing this too.  Any idea why?

[Swaintrain23]

Forgive me if I seem rude, take a look at the amount of fish that were kept on the 3rd page of the pictures thread alone and you will have your answer. All those fish are kept which thins out the population and all that is left are the dinks. In my mind there is NEVER a need to keep that many fish. Its just being greedy and unethical.  How is a fish species like perch who already have enough struggles surviving due to being eating by anything larger than it, and being abused by fishermen who think the fish just magically reproduce frm thin air. Its time to figure out what is more important.  Keeping everything you catch and complaining when the fish size/numbers aren't there like theh once were. Or only keeping a few for a meal and throwing the rest back. Up to you I guess. I don't mean to single you out at all.

[Swift]

........... or........ it could be that they're still there just not where you normally would find them. The last couple of winters have been a bit strange, weather/ice wise, to be polite about it. Found that the better fish weren't where they normally were for the time of year which was fine since the local ice was a bit spooky to wander on. Oxygen, weeds/cover and basic foods were more like first/last ice all winter. Actually felt like there were 5 or 6, 5 day seasons this winter. My last time out some weeds that are normally dead by mid January, under more normal conditions, were still fairly green. Guess where the fish were, normally they wouldn't have been anywhere near them, but the conditions were correct for them to be there. Caught nice Perch in 4'-6' of water all winter(?) at any time of day which is unusual. They adapt to their immediate needs and so should we in chasing them. My season is over but check the reed beds, Perch should be going crazy breeding 

[Jim_MI]

Forgive me if I seem rude, take a look at the amount of fish that were kept on the 3rd page of the pictures thread alone and you will have your answer. All those fish are kept which thins out the population and all that is left are the dinks. In my mind there is NEVER a need to keep that many fish. Its just being greedy and unethical.  How is a fish species like perch who already have enough struggles surviving due to being eating by anything larger than it, and being abused by fishermen who think the fish just magically reproduce frm thin air. Its time to figure out what is more important.  Keeping everything you catch and complaining when the fish size/numbers aren't there like theh once were. Or only keeping a few for a meal and throwing the rest back. Up to you I guess. I don't mean to single you out at all.

No hurt, no foul.  I keep about 1 for every 10 I catch, and just bring home what I will eat that night.  It's just that the other 9 are now all dinks, and it didn't used to be that way.  I do a lot of kayak fishing in the soft water season, and most of the "competitive" fishing there is catch-photograph-release.  Not enough room in a kayak for bringing home 50 fish anyway.