As many will remember, at the March auction at Momotaro I was lucky enough to purchase a jumbo tosai kohaku. The photo and size on it's certificate (given with higher quality Momotaro koi) was taken 16th Feb, with the size at 44cm. Come the auction 28th March it had grown to 49cm. At that time along with one other the same size was the biggest in the auction.
I had attended the auction with one view in mind, to buy the koi that I felt in my eye would grow into the best parent koi prospect. On picking the koi prior to the auction I showed Daisuke Maeda, he was pleased I had picked that koi, but was afraid it would be too expensive for me. Anyway I got lucky pushed the limit a little and it was mine. After the auction, Mr Maeda said he thought he could grow it to 90cm, I'm hoping so.
These tosai, sold in the spring are guaranteed female and if any turned out male they would be replaced. Off they went to the mud pond for summer but things did not go according to plan in the pond , a male or two had slipped through the checking. Remember these were only 12 months old, my female being one of the very biggest, was also one of the maturest, there was a huge spawning in the pond. They place cat fish in the ponds, just in case of this happening, so as many eggs as possible would be eaten.
Anyway, either the cat fish did not do a very good job or the shear number of eggs was too many, but come harvest time thousands of fry were caught, enough to fill a large one meter bowl to the top.
Most koi in the pond still grew well, even though the food had to be split between many more koi than was planned. My female grew 11cm, much less than many, but it is my experience that females which have spawned in a season loose out on growth that season, as they spend most the time replacing lost eggs.
She had grown from 49cm to 60cm, but I must admit, I was hoping for nearer 70cm. Only time will tell if she will catch up those lost centimeters, but she will stay at Momotaro for another 2 years.
In the pond she living in for the winter, she has by far the whitest skin of all.
Maurice.