I'm new to Arizona crappie, but in Michigan late winter ice fishing (March/Early April) or Spring after the thaw, early morning was always better. We ice fish them about an hour before light with a lantern on the ice and once the sun was up about a half hour the bite would drop off to maybe 1 to 2 fish an hour. In spring drifting the first hour or so in the morning was always the best and the last hour before dark was good.
I'm still figuring things out here, but my first trip to Alamo a couple of weeks ago I did better between 2 and 4 pm.