whenever I used to go to Barkley Lake - I'd wait and go around the 21st of Apr. I fished from the Barkley Dam to the Prison ... in the little bays and cuts/pockets with stumps/logs or "buck bushes". And, even though the morning air temps were sometimes in the 40's ... the fish were in less than 5ft of water.
All my trips to KY Lake were earlier in Apr ... and I always seemed to run into high water or flooded conditions (& extremely clear water)...but, usually managed to catch some fish from the LBL bays. Pisgah Bay, and the "rock quarry" right next to it, are pretty good spots.
You might also want to read up on the Crappie Tagging Study Report on the KDFWR site .... pretty specific info on location, timing, and depths !! ....... check it out here -- http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/navigat...7&NavPath=C101 .........luck2ya ........cp