Quinte Fishing

It's been my experience for lake trout, walleye and even panfish that the deeper you go, smaller fish become more frequent. Not all the time, but enough times that've taken notice of it. I've done the same thing..drop something to that level and been suprised by lots of below-average sized fish. I think the prime/shallower structures or bands of water are occupied a lot of the time by larger fish that are in a fairly active state and smaller fish steer clear. Deep expanses of water strike me as a pretty secure place for smaller fish or baitfish. Thru the ice for lake trout, schools of 12-20" fish ball up in 90-120fow, we get all our fish over twelve pounds either high in the water or in water that's shallower on top of structure, 40-65'. In a Great lakes scenario, 2 pound walleyes are definitely a forage option.
Last winter on Lake Simcoe us and other guys were getting dink perch deeper than eighty feet! All over the lake, too. The big fish are 15-40 feet deep. For walleyes up north in the spring we mark lots of activity down 35-45', drop the jigs down and they're little crappies, perch or cigar walleye. All the bigger walleyes and pike are in 10-20fow. I'm sure it's no secret to big fish that smaller, abundant feed hangs out in these deeper slots and I'm sure it all cycles back and forth. Muskies in the hot part of the summer where I fish will roam around big 30-35' areas of featureless soft bottom that are plastered with small perch. Not exactly classic structure, but lots of small panfish and bass hang out in this zone.
We get nearly all of our biggest walleye on BOQ fishing well above the fish and I guess 'shallow' or 'high.' Had fish over twelve pounds jump on lures while trying to clip the board on long before the bait has bottomed out in its trolling depth. Five finger hookset lol.