Tuesday, 15th.January The Back Lake, The Pads 09.50 New Year, new rods, new reels, new tactics… For the very first time and at long last I have managed to get in The Pads , for this is where I believe the fish are holed up and where I think I’ll get my best chance of a Back Lake carp. I've been wanting to get in The Pads for a long time. This is an area of the lake where the carp feel safe amongst the many snags and foliage and is a swim habitually fished by all and sundry. There are specific spots in it though where you have to drop your bait, otherwise takes are few and far between. The new rods are a set of three Wychwood Extricator Plus Tens. Ten feet long and three and a quarter pounds test curve, the shorter length preferred to enable greater accuracy in casting so that I can fish all three rods on one spot. Landing on this spot is far more difficult than it looks. Because the reed-line is not parallel to the bank, dropping a foot to the left