I never did this before, so what makes a good creek to fish in the winter time? I assume the baitfish and crappie are there because the water is warmer and the creek brings nutriates into the lake for the shad to feed on.

How deep does the creek need to be?

Do the banks need to be sheer drop offs or gradual?

Does it need to have current to hold baitfish and crappie, if so how much current?

Where the feeder creek comes out into the main lake, would there still be crappie holding out there? If so you could put a horizontal brush pile out there in the creek and have a good place to concentrate them.

Basically the answer is YES. LOL

All those can be factors. Just keep moving till you find the fish, then you develop a pattern.

A bend in a creek, or some slack water with a laydown would be a couple good places to start.

Don't be afraid to fish shallow in the creeks too. I catch them as shallow as 1ft of water in the Fall / Winter.

Like Brian stated, All of those are possible. The biggest thing with creek fishing is timing and conditions. You want the water to be stained but not muddy or super clear. I fish everything till I figure out a pattern. Last year this time was crazy in a certain creek and they were out in open water. A limit in an hour was common. This year, I have caught 2 fish there because the water is choco milk.

A week ago I caught fish up against the bank in the shadows and yesterday I caught them out in the middle on the bottom ... same creek. Changes every day.