I just returned from Astor ( stayed at Anglers Riverside Retreat ) and fished mainly the St Johns River area up to Lake George! The locals and winter transplants were all fishing the river and Dexter. We did wander up that way, stopped short of the lake while still in the river, and ran into a slew of striped bass, which was a blast on crappie gear.

The reason no one fishes George for crappie, is the huge boats that are constantly on it. We had 2 come back into Astor and the wake they threw off, even at idle speed, washed
over my boat as well as a few others that were fishing the river. I flew them the American Thank You sign!

If you are crappie fishing, I would stay in the river or hit Dexter. There was word out that Dexter was starting to come on. My buddy down there, called us on our way home and spoke of 2 different boats of his neighbors that came in with limits on Thursday, all from Dexter. The fish in the river were in the 10' - 13' zone in about 18-22 ft of water.

Also, keep an eye on the water levels.. if the water is up more than a foot or so, I would hit Mud Tick Lake. It was only 2 - 4 ft when we were just there, but it it gets up to around 3-5' or so, they will be in there. That is where we fished last year out of my buddies boat.

Almost all of the females we caught, were full of eggs, but none of them were bloody/red yet. Its getting close.. Temps just killed us tho.

Hope this helps...