There are no restirctions as far as the size of your boat. I have seen people with pontoons down there before. A smaller boat is a better choice as you can manuever it better up the creek.

The fish move up the creek to reach warmer and more oxygenated water during late winter and early spring and stay there as the water stays cooler and more oxygenated there in the summer.

It gets crowded in late spring and summer. Sometimes your best bet is to put in right after dark as it seems no one fishes it when the sun goes down.

As far as putting crappie beds in, I don't think that I would waste my time doing it there. Because the water level does not fluctuate very much at all the wood cover does not break down. There is still standing trees and more stumps that you can fish in a month down there. Recently the state did put some stake beds and some Christmas trees in it though.

I would focus my efforts on Barren and do it right now while the water is dropped down. You can put a bed or brushpile out now on dry land and mark it with a gps and fish it in the spring or summer and catch more and better fish. There is realtively little cover on Barren compared to the creek and you will see better results for your efforts I think.