I've crappie fished 20 odd years out of my 36yrs of living. I have done really well in the hot summertime on the local small lakes with Pops on minnows and jigs. Done good during the cold winter months with my friend on his big boat on the big lakes tightlining minnow rigs deep. Springtime is a beast entirely of its own. I never caught them good, never found em shallow like on TV, nor get the same results as the people who went fishing the day before me. Wind is always a problem during the spring and a cold front always hits the day before I fish. Muddy water doesn't help but triumphantly= I caught them in muddy water, but it was during the summertime. People get excited when springtime comes around but me so-so.