Close, but still a way to go

[Maurice]

to loose that 'low class breeder' title I've given myself!

I spent last evening reducing the numbers of the first kohaku spawn; I'm down to 300 now.

The photo below shows a bowl of 'nearlies'.
Top left is the second biggest at 16cm, but sadly a little bald.
Next to it is a maruten with lovely skin, but the pattern is bland.
Center bottom is going to end shiro muji.
The one with best potential of this bunch is center right, the pattern look insignificant at this stage, but will look good when bigger, shame the tail stop is a little large.


Maurice.
Still 'low class'

[Doug Ward]

Cmon Maurice. I think you're doing a fine job.
Your dream batch will come, in time.
What bloodline are the brood fish ?

[Maurice]

Doug, the female used in this pairing is from the Momotaro 'Eagle' line.
I also have a huge Kohaku spawning from a sister of 'Seio’ (runner up at the last All Japan and in with a chance of winning in the future, if it had not passed away). These guys are only a few weeks old, but I’m excited with the expectations!!

I’m running very late with the spawning, as it has taken much longer than expected to get the new mud ponds finished.

I have also Hariwake at around 4”, chagoi a couple of weeks old, heading for an inch. Day after tomorrow will be Kujaku and end of the week, or next week will be another sanke and a showa.
I shall still spawn into August, as I need to check the quality of a few sets.

[Brady Brandwood]

Hi Maurice, your very hard work and determination is showing results! Hang in & stay healthy - don't forget to sleep and eat occasionally!

Best Wishes,
Brady

[JasonS]

I'll take that maruten off your hands! I like the simple elegance of the pattern. I think it is a shame that a more complex pattern tends to be picked by show judges...

[Bob Winkler]

C'mon Jason, you knew some judge would pick on you for that :roll:

Maurice, your koi look very promising. Keep at it, I think you are on the right track too. Last year's Rocky Mountain Koi Club GC was a Hiroshima Sakai two step kohaku that by some definitions, might be called "bland". It won easy. So don't give up on us judges... :shock:

[Alex Gibbs]

Did i see "kujaku" mentioned in the spawning process??????? lets see the parents Maurice I am very interested in the type of Kujaku you are going to produce.

Best Regards,
Alex Gibbs

[JasonS]

Caught me, Bob! :lol:

But seriously I suspect an inazuma of the same quality would've been picked over the simply elegant two step. The more complex pattern tends to win. BUT how often does the pattern determine the winner (assuming no clear demerits, of course) -- I'd say very very rarely.

Agreed!

[Bob Winkler]

You are right.. Pattern very rarely determines the winner. Glad we could have this chat. :P

[Maurice]

Alex, while in Japan looking for new parents sets last October, I could not find reasonibly price large kujaku. I had set what I thought was a good budget for a kujaku set, but prices were sky high (gosanke type prices), so shintaro set off on his own to track down a suitable set. He did me proud and came back with a 74cm female which he considered has all the atributes needed to produce good babies, these were coupled up with some nisai males.

I can't find the photos, so I'll try and take some more, but it must be before she spawns, less we'll be look at a skinny mummy.
Maurice.