The weather was so inviting this past weekend I wanted to spend every moment on the water with friends and family and I got to do just that! This reports is much less about catching big fish and is more about spending time with friends and family. This first picture is my youngest child, Carinsa, age 4. She recently learned to cast on her own and had a blast Friday night on a local Nebraska pond. She hammered the crappies and little bass on a red and white crappie tube. Watching her catch these fish by herself was priceless. She ven learned to "count down" to let the jig fall before reeling in slowly.
For those of you with little ones, I suggest trying to teach them to fish small plastics or other "easy-to-use" lures. It’s often difficult for really young kids to be patient and watching the bobber can lead to frustration. Swimming small plastics allows them to stay active and you never have to say, "you’ve got to leave it in the water to catch a fish!". Little twister tails and crappie jigs work great. In the second picture I think the fish is SOOO BIG that she can’t even keep her eyes open! 
The little bass were also biting on plastics and cranks on the pond and at Summit Lake in Nebraska this weekend. Todd Consbruck and I headed to Summit to see if the walleye were biting but we were prepared to chase gills and bass as we worked on our spring time tan. We never did find the eyes but we had a blast catching these big gills and some bass from 10 to 16 inches.
Finally, just an update on Blackhawk Lake, Iowa. I hit the lake again on Saturday but only caught a couple short eyes. John from here at IDA reported catching some nice keepers in the evening on leeches but I was not able to find the bite myself. John, I’ll be looking for more pointers. 
We did get into a few catfish and yellow bass though. Here’s my lovely mother and a little channel cat she caught on a minnow and slip-bobber. It was sure fun spending time with friends and family this weekend!
One more of my little girl with her BIG bass.
Way to go Wade!! I can’t wait to I have “little ones” running around…they are gonna be pro-fisherman…
Great report!
Boy, isn’t someone a ham for the camera! Some one looks pretty proud as well.
Cool pics Wade!
Well at least we know she doesn’t get her good fishing skills from you
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Cool pics Wade. Looks like your family had a great time.
Very Nice Wade
I know you’ve got this fishing thing figured out – spending time with family and friends
The pics of tomorrow’s NPAA leader are great
dave
GREAT report Wade. Fishing with family is very special. She sure loves her fish she catches.
Shes hooked for life. 
Thanks, Bill
Wade, thanks for the story. I always enjoy reading stories about kids being introducted to the great outdoors! Everyone is a winner when the kids are having a great time with Mother nature!
Nice report Wade!!!
Always fun to see the look on a kids face when they pull a fish out of the water.
Ben Garver
Priceless!
Great to see you, Todd and the family got out!
Thanks guys! I am just of little proud of my little one as you can tell. It’s hard not to be a gushing parent.
Todd emailed a few more pics to me. Here’s two of the more handsome guys on Summit Lake on Sunday…
I also taught her how to use the digital camera. She chopped my head off a bit but made sure she got all of the fish in the pic. Not too bad. This is a little pond walleye we found on the same night. You can see how the camera makes the fish look smaller and my gut look bigger!
OK, one last pic and I’ll leave it alone…
Wade,
Something tells me people think your daughter is cuter than me and that just hurts….
Seriously, great trip. I haven’t caught that many bass and bluegill in forever, lot of fun!
All fish look small when I’m holding them, even 14# walleye I’ve found look like 8’s
Todd
Todd, That was a lot of fun. I think Summit will be a decent lake once again. We’ll have to get on the water together again soon!
Wade;
What a great report!!!!!!!!!!!