Slab,
 
 What do you consider "Pigs"??
 Just wondering.
 
crappy

I really hope I'm not coming off as a jackwagon. I honest to God didn't mean it that way. It's just that 10-11" is pretty average for where I fish. I haven't fished a whole bunch of different lakes. I have my go-to's and I stick to them.
 
Pig walleye? 5lb+ if talking about Pymie. 7lb+ if talking Erie. Anything over 20" if talking about the creek by my house. Those are about the only places I fish for them. lol. Are those numbers high? And before you ask, a slab is over 13". ;)
 

slab, not to spot burn, but R creek to north, orM creek to south? i fish both, you,re right, 20 is pig there.

I have found the perch at Pymie to be a wonderful "silver medal" when targeting 'Eyes. And, Yes, they do have shoulders, which is an additional bonus. At times its you can drift over a nice school of 9"-12"ers, and, while not 'Eyes, the action is pretty much non stop for a spell. When you consider how they eat, it doesn't really feel like a compromise.

slabdaddy
Blue and Chauncy, I'm beginning to see that most people begin calling them jumbos at 11". It seems that my criteria is a little high. The only places that I specifically fish for perch have pretty big ones, so I guess that's why I think the way I do. I fish Erie and two local lakes that have some really nice perch if you know where to look. I'd be happy sitting over a school of 11"-12" perch any day.

I guess it all depends on the lake that you fish, if at your lake the average perch caught is 10-12" then of course a 12" perch wouldn't be considered "jumbo". I referenced inland lakes so Erie doesn't count. I fish moraine for perch (for me) the typical perch is 7-9 inches. So to me for Arthur an 11-12" perch is quite good. Maybe I'm missing the bigger fish, being relatively new to pan fishing,maybe Arthur has larger perch to offer, which I'm sue it does but I have yet to find them. I would be thrilled to catch 11-12 inchers all day. I think each lake has many different factors that affect the growth rate of perch, some lakes to have the average at 11 or 12 just may not be possible. But who knows. Do you fish weed lines or deeper holes in the fall?

Blue, Weed lines/beds in the fall, then deeper holes in the winter under ice.
 
Wired, M to the south. However, I've caught 6-8lb eyes out of R to the North. Only way you're gonna do that is from a canoe or a kayak though. Can't walk to those holes.
 
As far as jumbos go, I'd love to catch 11-12" perch consistently from Pymie. The only place I ever found them was by the islands south of Jamestown. Even then, I'd go through 20 dinks before I got one with shoulders.

You notice that no one is talking about perch in shenango lake. Possibly because there's not a lot of weedbeds there or the predator fish are consuming them before they can populate and grow to spawning size. A few really nice ones have been caught right after iceout in the back bays but then they seem to just dissapear. Been fishing this lake for a very long time and can't say i've ever seen anyone or heard of anyone taking even close to limits there. Anybody see or hear diffrent? Be nice if i didn't have to travel so far to get a nice meal of perch.

Chauncy, I never hear about perch at Shenango either. I hear lots about crappie, but not perch.

I can remember in the sixties, maybe into the early seventies, that 14" and 15" perch were not uncommon on the North End of Pymatuning.   I recall at an early age they suddenly disappeared and at the time all of the aficionados were blaming it on the insurgence of the weedbeds that really choke up the shallows.  Don't know if that was any reason, but I do know that we used to catch really large perch in the stumps
As far as Shenango, the only place I ever hit perch was night fishing around the railroad trestle
below the rt 18 causeway.

I've caught the big perch at Pymie through the ice and early spring.  Largest came through the ice at a very respectable 13 3/4 inches.  Got into a school last year but they didn't stay around long.  Caught 5 over 12 inches as fast as I could get the bait down and than had to hole hop to finish with 14 fish over 12 inches.  Use to catch some real nice perch at Wilhelm through the ice on tip ups.  Haven't been there for a while though.