I spider rig most of the time. The wife is a one pole fisher person, so I can drop up to five rods off the boat. I usually run (4) off the front using 12 and 14' rods. I usually don't have the same baits on any one pole and run two baits per pole. Some plastics, some hair, and usually live minners as well. I will switch up to whatever they are liking. The water clarity does make a diff in my opinion. Since crappie are a bit spooky, the clearer the water and the higher they are suspended may cause them to refuse the bite. I have a buddy that primarily long lines and he will do better than me in this case. You have to be able to switch approaches if one isn't working for you. Panfish assassins in the Tomato seed, Pearl baby shad, and Orange flake work well for me. Roadrunners in chart. tipped w/ minner also do well. Usually finding a samller jig works better up here. I learned a lesson this past spring down on Sardis about upsizing jigs for those bigger slabs. Lost many due to that. Hope this helps.
BTW what part of the state you from? Don't forget to check out the MI forum for other opinions/ideas. Welcome aboard!