Lake Oconee Crappie Questions (newbie)

[whoknewgheenoe]

Hello Fellow Fishing Addicts!

I am a lifelong bass fisher that also has dabbled in trout and surf fishing. If it's in the water I'm interested in it!

I have spend the past 6 months or so assembling enough gear to give Crappie fishing a try. At this point I'm using (6) 12' telescoping cane poles with reels attached in a spider rig on my Gheenoe that I've made myself and have about a dozen outings under my belt at Lake Oconee and Lake Chapman (Sandy Creek Par, Athens).

I have caught some crappie at Lake Chapman (Sandy Creek Park , Athens) but have not had any luck with the crappie yet on Lake Oconee. I (like many of you I'm sure) am limited to when I can get on the water so even if conditions are bad I'll take a stab at it.

My Set Up:
15'4 Gheenoe with powerdrive trolling motor and 9.9 Mercury
Older Garmin 300c Fishfinder (dual beam, small display)
Spider rig for 6 poles on the bow
Typically fish 2 jigs per pole, 1/16-1/8 oz in various colors and depths. Additional 1/4-1/2oz egg sinker sometimes.
Sometimes tip with minnows

Fishing Locations:
Lake Oconee (put in at Sugar Creek Marina and work the bridge there or head up towards creek mouths and work trees)
Chapman Lake

Wanting to get into some fish and take my father out with me (once I've figured out how to find/catch these elusive fish)
Open to trying different spots on Oconee or Sinclair.

Questions:
1. Suggestions for beginners on locating fish on Oconee?
2. Looking at Slab Sauce, any thoughts? (thinking every little bit helps)
3. Are winter crappie biting at certain times of day? (i've tried sunrise and mid day to late afternoon)
4. Currently eyeballing zebco crappie fighter rods, 12'. Anyone have experience with these? (I'm on a tight budget with the misses right now since the boat/new bass rods/crappie jigs purchase)


I have really enjoyed reading through this site and have spent hours and hour watching great youtube videos on crappie fishing Georgia waters, really a stand up group of people and looking forward to getting to giving this sport a go.

I've attached 2 pictures, one is my brother and my boat (before homemade spider rig 2.0)
The second picture is of the recently homemade spider rig 2.0.

Thank you in advance for any suggests/mentorship/tips etc!