It all depends on what you are targeting. Right now I am looking for Spots so I am hitting 300-400 feet on rocky bottoms with a good slope. If I was targeting Coon Stripes some people set pretty shallow on muddy bottoms as shallow as 125-200 feet.
If I did not know the area, I'd set my first pot in 350 and goes towards shore dropping my last pot in 200 feet. (I set five pot strings.) Then when I pick them up, which ever pot does the best, lay the entire string at that depth.
5 to 7 for me, steep & deep, i like fishing rocky bottom, never had pots drift uphill, i'm not good enough setting gear to hold one depth but where i like to fish it goes from 500 to 800+ in less than a 5 pot line length. One thing i've seen with the "hold the depth" theory is either you load up or its a suck set, i personally like fishing over edges(your results may vary !!)
I like to try multiple sets from 650 on up in steep and deep. I average between 10-20 shrimp per pot on a 6hr soak. I usually only find shrimp up to 450ft. haven't had any luck with anything shallower than that. Im still looking for that magical sweet spot. I seem to eat threw them faster than I can catch them.