Finding off structure Crappies thru ice?

This post is for the panfish gurus. My parents have a cabin on a lake in the Leech Lake area. Been there since the mid 80’s. There are some dandy gils and crappies in it. For as long as we’ve been going there I have never found, nor heard, or have seen people catching crappies in typical wintering holes. We always catch them in the weeds on random days either mixed with or usually shallower than the bluegills. Some days it’s an early morning or late evening bite. Other days it’s a high noon, sunny day bite. I know they are patrolling those shallow spots in search of food and then are gone when they are done. They most likely then head out to a spot off structure. I have looked some, with no positive results, to areas off the weed beds. Searching and drilling gets tiresome and then we just go back to fishing the weeds and either get a sporadic bite or nothing besides a decent meal of 8-9″ gils. Spoiled is a good way to explain me, but I want more. My question to you panfishermen is, what does a guy need to look for? How far from the drop offs should a guy target? Do we need to find hard/soft transition areas? We have three decent sized weed beds that drop off to a 25′-30′ “flat” that turns to mud close to where the first drop tapers off. That flat then drops into a 35′-40′ basin with even deeper water nearby, 70’+. I have a very good picture in my minds eye what the whole thing looks like below the ice. I finally have the manpower this coming weekend to do a broad search for those slabs and I am trying to compile some ideas to help me think outside the box. Thanks for the input in advance.

While the key elements may appear to be the weeds/flats/deep holes, you may want to direct your search much higher in the water column at this time of the season.

I have always looked at the dead of winter as crappies being a vertical fish….their primary movement is up and down. As days grow longer and the sun draws higher in the sky I see crappies begin to get way more horizontal and generally in the water column. When they get in this mode they will travel some distance only a few feet under the ice to get to and from food. Just a though to ponder.