Clownfish,
I don't have a good answer to the appearance of the crappie in the main lake vs river. It is usually quite the opposite, dirty water = pale fish, clean water = good color. Although fish caught in deep water do often times appear very pale.
As for the shad. We recently completed our shad surveys on the lake. We sampled shad in Camp Branch, Main Lake, and Little Platte. We seen tons of shad everywhere we went. There were 4 distinctive size classes; 2.5 -3.5", 5-6", 8-9", and 11"+. The amount of 2.5 -3.5" shad in the lake right now is off the charts. In every location the shallow water held the smaller shad. There is no reason that every crappie in the lake should not be fat and happy right now. Now, If I could just find a way for the black crappie to start eating these shad earlier in life we would be set.