I was on  holiday in America visiting my aunt and uncle and I asked if I could go to the Colorado river to do some fishing, they immediately agreed. 

It was a long 4 hour drive to get to the Colorado river, we left Moreno valley c.a, at 4 in the ,morning, I was so damn tired, but just thinking of all those fish in the river kept me awake, we pulled up at the Colorado river at 9pm, I opened the car door and 115 degrees of heat slapped me round the face,  it was so hot but I was armed with factor 30 sunscreen and an umbrella,  I was prepared for everything.

The particular stretch of the Colorado river I was fishing was a private stretch which was owned by one of my uncles friends, and it was in his back garden (lucky sod!!), I was so eager to fish, I lugged all me gear over me shoulder and managed to get it all to the bank in one go, which I was proud of!. the first sight I saw when looking into the margins of this fast flowing river were 4 carp, all over 15lb, just sitting there sunning
themselves. that's when I thought to myself " this is going to be a good day!, I tried not to spook them, however they were obviously not used to
movement on the bank, and as soon as I moved they bolted but I continued to set up my pod, and then I set up my rods, I was keeping things simple as these carp have obviously never seen a hook in their lives before, a 3oz lead and hair rig, to 12lb line ( which proved to be too light for mainline on the Colorado river), I also wanted to keep bait simple, as they may be a bit confused at seeing a boilie, so I hair rigged cheese, the carp were so close in that it only required me to drop the bait in from the tip of the rod, if I would have cast it out too far then the current (8mph) would have swept rig and lead downstream. 

After about 2 minutes, the left hand rod screamed off so fast that it snapped the butt rest on me pod, I was definitely not prepared for what was
about to happen. I struck into it, and the fish flew so fast up the river that I had no control over it, and before I had chance to do anything, the mainline snapped, Phew, ok not a good start, but I've learnt that these fish must be some sorta super carp, it was like having the end rig tied onto a
car!. before re-baiting and re-casting I made sure that the clutch was very loose, so then when I struck into it, the fish could run, also I changed
spools, from mono to 25lb braid.. I had a bit of trouble balancing the rod on the battered pod thanks to the last carp that I lost, after about 15
minutes the left hand rod screamed off again, as fast as last time, but this time I was prepared!, I struck into it and just held on for dear life, after
25 minutes of fighting, a lovely scale perfect untouched 9lb common was in the net, My first Colorado river carp!!

I was buzzing, no sooner had I caught the fish, it was Kissed and put back safely, and  the rod was out again,  then my right hand rod zoomed off, and
it was a bass of about 3lb, but it was nothing compared to the carp., I thought I would try some freelining with an extra rod, but before I had
chance to settle down, my left hand rod on my pod screamed off again, this time the rod fell off the pod, due to the broken butt rest, I struck into it
and 15 minutes later a nice 8lb common graced my landing net. same procedure, kiss and put back. 

Later on that day, I caught 2  6lb commons. what a result. ok so they weren't record fish, but they fought like bloody express
train, and the fact that I had caught carp from the Colorado river was enough to keep me smiling the whole 9 hour journey back to England! now that
I think back, I realize, that I could have done so much more, but I wasn't prepared, and the tackle I took out there just wasn't up to the job. but I'm
already in the process of booking up to go to the Colorado river next year. with proper gear this time.