^Thats why crappie fishing in Massachusetts is so great. No pressure!
Welcome to the site. I'm definitely far from an expert, but the crappies should be pretty close to their spawning areas by now. I usually find them adjacent to shallow water this time of year. I do have to do some hunting for them if i'm in unfamiliar water, but once I find them, the bite is on. Pickerels are always a pest. There's been many a day when I've gone out to catch crappies and caught 3 times as many pickerel, especially this time of year. I'm sure there are biting crappies in the ponds you fish, you just have to find them. Not sure how much snow and ice you got compared to the rest of the state, but if your water levels are way up it could pose and additional challenge. I mainly use gulp alive minnows (3 inch) as my go to crappie bait nowadays, however I have also had good success with small jig heads with tubes, and inline spinner baits. Good luck!