an observation, light conversation

[dick benbow]

last night as i was " putting the carp to bed" I watched the 10 little blue indians
zooming around their net inclosure. They would jump out of the water not like
parasites were bothering them but exactly how I used to see small trout jump at sunset. Simply for the shear joy of living. It was the first time I have seen koi do that. i had the sense that maybe it's something fry do. Kinda like at 4:30 when the birds of the neighborhood raise a "din" for about half an hr in conjunction with sunrise. after that you get an occassional chirp but not the big roar to welcome in the day.

for many years I had my great big show koi only. I can't tell you how much fun these little guys are giving me just watching them grow and learn. I missed that. I don't know what it is but it's real. Maybe similar to what we feel when we get a new kitten or puppy. ( except I can't hug my baby blues) but then i don't need a big supply of newspapers either! (LOL)

[koifishgirl]

Well its just like kids they like to play, and when its raining they love to play in the rain, they jump alot then. I have a bunch of small koi and they love to take off paired up in a race across the mud pond, at times they take a flying leap into the air. Small koi are just like kids they are fun to watch playing, you never know what to expect out of them. Who know may be a day a the gym for them LOL.

[GazKoi]

Looking forward to seeing the pictures as they develop as i am sure you will keep us posted with you fabulous babies

[dick benbow]

Gazza, they zip around pretty fast to get their food and I'm not sure that camera of mine is fast enough! We'll see....

[Arthur]

Dick,

You know as well as me that Asagi are pretty wild. I have a 17 year-old in my pond taht insist on doing his jumping routine every morning.

Only now he is more careful to do it in the middle of the pond. When I first got him he jumped out and landed facing the pond wiht his head hanging over the water. He was wagging his tail like to swim back into the pond.

I went out and lifted him up (he was so quiet he must have known what I was doiing) and droped him into the pond.

Like I said, his trebulations are more careful now,

[ChrisC]

I have often seen my fish breech, and it looked like they were doing it for fun.

Glad the light moments are back in your life, Dick!

[woodyaht]

One of my fish would get a stick up his butt and jump every now and again (never out of the pond), I woke up Sat. morn and he wasn't in the pond, I walked around and he was out in the dirt all covered in leaves, dry as a bone, I picked him up and got 1 breath out of him, so I held him under the waterfall for 30min. and got him back going. Took him 24hrs. to get back to kind of being normal, then I got home late tonight, and he had jumped again, but I wasn't here to save him this time.

[Ian_&_Terri]

Sad story woodyaht... been there too.

Our 4yr soragoi fm has taken to breeching, like Shamu at DisneyLand LOL She didn't do this last year, but every so often throughout the day she makes a big splash over the BD diffuser. She's the largest koi we have in the pond at just over 20", seems like she's just showing off - literally throwing her weight around...

We have some 7-8 week old koi fry, some take to jumping out of the water at feeding time... it's cute to see little gaffers splashing about.

Thanks for sharing Dick. It's nice to enjoy the little things about this hobby... and for me it's not often I get to sit by the pond to do so anymore.

[dick benbow]

Ian,
there is a story told that's very true about spots fishing. That as a kid or in the beginning it's the joy of going fishing. after that passes it's catching the most. then the biggest, then just having time to be able to fish. It's so true with koi. You seem to go full circle to arrive back at the place you started.
I started out to have a pond to accent my japanese garden. Then i wanted to have one of every color variety. then just show fish. Now i'm back to watching my asagi and glad just to have time to do it. I don't show anymore. But I do like to manage a few benching crews during the year. Portland, oregon's show is coming up the last weekend of this month. Don't know if i'll be attending yet.
Always went with jo ann and stayed over night but she's still recovering from open heart surgery. We celebrated our 35th wqedding anni today.

Arthur,
I need to get over and see your pond someday. Any photos of the Asagi of yours? has it aged well? Did you know the breeder?

[Jackie Ramo]

Dick Happy Anniverary! Smith and I will do 30 years this November. Happy ones all of them.

I have a 24 inch guy who likes to jump, so far has a 6th sense for water and has always hit it dead centre, even in the small pond where he overwinters inside. Straight up and down again but he makes a big splash. Funny, the rest of the time he is the slowest in the pond. He even jumped out of the tub and into the pond one day... nothing but net so they say!!!