I've used the drop shot presentation (for over about a dozen years now) mostly for smallmouth bass, when fishing off-shore structures. I've have had success using it for crappie as well, but haven't found the
need to resort to this finesse tactic very often. Rarely are crappie so finicky as to having to resort to using it.
However, that being said, I can offer a few tips that may improve your success with this presentation. First, I have never found that circle hooks work all that well with either bass or crappie, when used on a drop shot rig. I've always had my best results (hook-ups) with the tried & true
Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook. Reason being is that the point of this particular hook is
straight, not curved in like a beak. This drives the point into the mouth of the game fish, vs driving it in and back out again (following the curvature of the beak point).
Next, I would recommend a simple, straight tailed plastic, such as the BGBS series. And just nose hook it. When drop shotting it is desirable to mimic a vulnerable minnow, unaware of the predator's presence. This plastic does just that, as I'm sure most other straight tails do as well.
Finally, the biggest mistake most drop shotters make is to worry about movement of the bait. Don't be. Move it
as little as possible. I lower the rig to the bottom, take up slack so that I know where the bait is in the water column, then I lower it just a tad to take off the pressure on the line. This gives the bait a freer movement in the water, allowing it to take advantage of the currents (which there always is). This minute movement and the subtleness of the straight tailed plastics, will ensure the bait is moving as it should. Extremely productive, regardless of the species of fish you are targeting.
I hope this is of some help.