Been a long time since I've done any fishing but when I did, a lot was for crappie.. I fished in a small rather shallow /narrow river that had several fords across it (see link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_(crossing) and we'd fish at the small pool where the ford started across the river/creek.. I used mostly small minnows and had good luck with them Water was murkey mostly but the crappie had no trouble finding them..Used a bobber and spinning outfit with light lb test line..Good fighters.. Adjusted the bobber for water depth as it varied ..
Best of luck,
Glenn