Don't overthink night fishing for crappie. I personally don't have any crappie rods. I grew up using Zebco 33's and I love those things, the older ones anyway not the new cheap plastic ones. I throw a few lights in the water and fish directly under them and on the perimeter of the lights. I drop a minnow straight down anywhere from 1' to 5 or 6'. I've been known to drop a slider or two but I generally use minnows. I've been personally fishing 5' to 28' of water on points by a cove. This works for me and I'm sure other guys have different techniques.