Hanr3 has a great point. When the water is down, I mark alot of spots either through visual reference or taking a photo on my camera phone. This way, when the water comes back up, I know there is a tree under that water someplace.

I "swim" a lot of jigs recently. I prefer to use a 1/16th oz for my style of fishing. My favortie bait right now (actually all summer) is a 2 inch shad (standard gray and black) made by "big Bite". They are sold at several places including gander mountain. My second favorite is their style of twister tails in several colors. Another great option (being as minnows are not easy to access for you) is "Berkly Gulp Alive". They seem to work fairly well. Another option for you (if legal in your area) is to either purchase or build yourself a minnow trap. Many states (Like Michigan) allow you to trap minnows and use them on the same body of water. Might be worth a shot for you.

The best advice I think I could give though is local knowledge. Talk to some people that fish this body of water alot. Find out if they catch large numbers of Crappie or smaller numbers. You may find out this body of water is not known to hold alot of crappie. Lastly, ask them to point you in the right direction. If they are anything like most guys on this site they would be happy to point out a hand full of options for you. Heck, they may even take you for a boat ride!