cooks bay is the one place i go when i want guaranteed perch. you have to move around a lot to get them over 9 inches, but if you can't catch perch on cooks bay on a daily basis your doing something wrong. no bait needed, just keep moving. all you need is one rod with a jigging spoon to stir up silt, one rod with a small jiggin rap, and one rod with with a small bug type bait, and a rubber power maggot or gulp, or something like that. with these 3 items, your equipped. you will sort through plenty of fish, i find 7-8 inches is pretty average. the ideal keepers in my mind are 9-10 inches, anything under and over goes back, like i said you will have to move and sort to get these fish. so yes, there is a real mix of size in cooks bay, but its easy pickings. throw those fat bellied sows back when you do catch them, they are just a waste anyway all roe, with a nice back fillet, but you can get nearly as much meat off a 10 inch perch. might as well let them breed.