We used to target them every spring as a kids fishing with dad, far and away the best bait I have seen for them is an emerald shiner fished under a bobber. We used speaders here in Ohio, they are legal here check your local regs.
A number of different lures will work, blakemore roadrunners, 1 1/2 inch 2 inch tubes, small cranks and spinner baits. My neighbor that tournament crappie fishes(live bait is allowed) takes emerald shiner to all the tournaments he can even inland lake ones where they are not a natural species(also check your regs on that).
Shallow areas for the most part in the spring, the water warms faster and is the place to start looking, a dark bottom, mud and muck warms faster than a light colored one especially on the northwest side where it catches sun light longer in the spring.
Any type of structure, wood, rocks, weeds, is going to help hold them, especially if bait fish are present. Generally less than 4 feet of water, a drop off near by helps, a staging area for their move shallow to spawn. Clear water may move them deeper.
They can also be caught on a fly rod using streamer flies that imitate bait fish common in the area. A lot of docks in the area we fished a small spoon-fly combo called a no-name lure used to work well, just dragged along side a dock on a spinning rod. A nick name for them is paper mouth, to much pressure can tear the hook out of the soft thin mouth area.