Redneck jr,
I usually hit several different lakes in the spring for crappies. I focus my attention on the smaller lakes that ice out and warm up sooner very early in the season… Its just easier to find active fish when they start to push into the shallows. Fishing those shallow lakes will generally hold me over until the larger lakes open up and warm up a few degrees. Shallow bays with a soft bottom, back channels, culverts, inlets, anything that contributes to slightly warmer water in the spring is usually key to find the earliest bites.
The crappies wont be spawning for a while. The earliest season fishing is just fish moving in to feed, not spawn. When the water is still too cold for the fish to move in, they will usually be found off the 1st break, or a near by hole in 10′-30′ stacked up waiting for the conditions to be right to do their annual run to the shallows.
It doesnt take long for the crappies to become active, there are already fish feeding being caught on the river when the weather is warm and the water warms up a few degrees.