4 New Fish Added This Season

[Dale Torok]

In August I took a several day fishing trip to Tennessee. The hook and line kind of fishing. I had heard about a koi dealer in Georgia called Wet Pets that has been in the koi business for about 20 years. It is owned by Chuck Jones, who makes a couple of trips to Japan each year to replenish his inventory of koi for sale. I called him before my trip and found that he only visits Ogata Koi. All his imports are purchased there.

From the lake where I was in Tennessee it was only a few hours drive to his place in Georgia. so I cancelled fishing for the last day of the trip and headed for Dalonagah, GA for a different kind of fishing. My goal was to see if there was one 2 plus year old koi in his inventory that I liked well enough to bring home. After that, I wanted to see if there were a couple small gosanke that impressed me enough to want to watch them grow for a few years.

I was surprised to find that Chuck had a pretty good inventory of 2 year old koi and a few 3 year old. Of all of them, the one that kept drawing my eye back was a 2 year old male kohaku. The shiroji ground was so brilliant. The luster of the shiroji and beni was the best I saw of all the larger fish there. I had him bowl several fish and just couldn't stop coming back to this one.

This is when you start arguing with yourself. I didn't think I wanted a male. I had come in looking for a female. Or at least if I wasn't sure, a fish that I thought was a female. This kohaku was obviously a male, but it was the best I had seen that was available to me this year.

So, I bought this 19" kohaku. I invite your comments. There was bright sun and a lot of reflections while I took these, so I'll post a few that hopefully between them will give you a good overall look at the fish. These pictures were taken the day it came home to Kentucky.

Dale

[KoiCop]

thanks for posting -- I can see why that koi caught your eye and stole your heart.

[Dale Torok]

Quote: Originally Posted by KoiCop thanks for posting -- I can see why that koi caught your eye and stole your heart.

Don,

Yes, it sure did. And I'm still happy with this purchase 2 months later.

While I was looking at the small koi, I was only considering gosanke. Out of several hundred fish there, I got the choices down to one kohaku, one sanke and one showa. I liked them all so much that I got all three.

I think the sanke has the most potential, but any or all of the three fish could turn out well. Or go south. Only time will tell.

This picture has a pretty good view of the sanke, which is about 9".
Dale

[Dale Torok]

So, those are the four fish added this season. 3 small gosanke and the 2 year old kohaku.

Here's a better view of the kohaku and the showa. What do you think of the 3 small fish? Any and all comments appreciated.
Dale

[KoiCop]

gosh, I like 'em all. You may be right about the sanke, but, personally, I'm a sucker for showa.

Think you'll have lots of enjoyment watching those little ones grow and comparing their progress, one to the other.

[dizzyfish]

Dale,
They all look really nice to me. I also saw some pictures of koi some the other club members bought from Wet Pet. They appear to have very good fish for the money.
Mitch

[dick benbow]

very nice additions dale.....I take it the fishing ( with rod and reel ) was not that great! Too bad we couldn't hear the new koi's comments while they talk amongst themselves....japanese with kind of a southern georgia drawl I too like the kohakus!

[Dale Torok]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow very nice additions dale.....I take it the fishing ( with rod and reel ) was not that great! Too bad we couldn't hear the new koi's comments while they talk amongst themselves....japanese with kind of a southern georgia drawl I too like the kohakus!

Thank you Dick.

You were dead on the money with your assumption that the fishing with the rod & reel wasn't that great! It really wasn't. HOWEVER, just getting out in the woods and in a boat on a lake for four days is theraputic enough in itself without actually catching a lot of fish! It can really recharge the batteries.

My wife and I have really enjoyed watching the little ones. Before adding these 3 small koi, all the fish in our pond were fairly large, the smallest being 22" on up to 30". It's amazing how much you notice how differently the little ones swim and act after watching nothing but big mature koi for so long.

Dale