Hey Rob, not sure how far you want to drive, but Lake Weiss has the best crappie fishing that I have found in Georgia. It is west of Rome, GA which is about an hour and a half from Duluth. The Coosa River basin produces some of the biggest slabs in the southeast. Lanier is pretty good, but hard to ignore all the traffic. Allatoona has some good crappie as well, but one of my favorite spots is High Falls Lake near Jackson. A lot of the crappie are small, but they are in great supply and fun to catch. One of the best things about this lake is that they have a 10 horsepower restriction and no jet ski's are allowed.
I noticed that you didn't have a boat. I could not afford a big bass boat, but bought a pro 120 from kl industries. You can order off the internet and they deliver directly to your house in about 5 days. It is 11 1/2 ft with rasied casting decks, elevated seats, aerated livewell, and other features that you would find in standard bass boats. I got the trailer, boat, and 5 hp motor for about $2300. It has been well worth it. Now I don't have to work around the schedule of my friends that have boats, I can go when I get ready. Here is the website if you are interested http://www.directboats.com/pro120fisboa.html
