crappielover24
All I can tell ya is if you are having fun DO IT :D . You can search the world over and come up with as many different answers as the number of people you talk to.
Now if you are asking me, I have used minnows/shiners and at the end of the day I usually had more dead minnows/shiners than I had fish.
I use tube jigs, I like tube jigs and they don't die.
Some days I have to watch others catch on minnows/shiners, but the next day things change and I am the one doing the catching.
You have to go, you have to learn, you have to pay you dues and get your feet wet and get a feel for what suits you as a fisherperson.
I am a 40 year crappie fisherman and learn something new about every lake that I go to. And never will learn it all.
But if you like it, if it makes you and your family smile and enjoy what you are doing, the rest will come.
Go fishing and talk to folks on the lake. They will help you. They are all good people.
There is no magic formula.
Sorry about my soap box, but it's the truth. FISH and LEARN.