My home lake, Piedmont Lake has a shallow end called Egypt Bottom. It is a mud flat with some old stumps and a slight creek channel through it. I love to fish it early in the spring but give up on it later in the year. A guy that I know fishes it all year. He has been really winning all the money in the tourniment down there. He will not tell anything about how or where he fishes. He did say that he has paths cut through all of egypt bottom. Where would he be cutting these paths and what would he be looking for? The water is only about 2-3 feet deep and often muddy. I fish pads in Florida and all I do there is pitch a 6" june bug u-tale on a pad and twitch if off. Egypt bottom is about 200 acres. I need to find the prime areas. Thanks.
Not sure of your lake, but lakes I have fished with pads I have done well with Jigs, and worms dropped into any and all open spots. Get the bait down through the pads, twitch it and jig it. Also early morning runnig a bait over the top will produce as well. 2' of water is plenty for bass. Have you ever saw a bass that was 2' high I was told that several years ago. Make sure you have a good stout rod and GOOD line. 20 lb. plus for pads. Don't be afraid to get into the pads! If he does it, you can too. Practice anytime you can. The more you do the better you'll be. Good luck, hope I helped a little.
I like to twitch ZOOM Super Flukes through the pads. They run well over the tops, and when you find a hole in the weeds, let it sink slowly and twitch it a little. They're good producers too. My favorite color to use is Arkansas Shiner.