Koi

One Koi enthusiast will be tracking his travels around the UK this spring and summer, bringing us the latest from the shows, dealers and keepers... 

Saturday 19th February 2011

It's a cool Saturday morning (7.30am) to be precise and I am on my way to pick up fellow Koi enthusiast, Kyle, for our first ever Koi show – the EMKC.

Both of us are brimming with excitement and anticipation and the two hour drive whizzes by amid constant talk of Koi, ponds and munching through a packet of jelly babies! As we pulled into Anglesey House in Burton-on-Trent we were both given a slip of paper on which we could guess which Koi would win Grand Champion.

The first vat we came across was outstanding. There was only one word for the Koi: "wow!" Both the quality and size of that first Koi stood out immediately. That was just the beginning. Vibrant colours stood out from every angle, from inside the vats, to the ceiling decorations and especially from Keith Siddle's paint stand. Every single one of Keith's pictures are hand painted, and each will take over a month to complete. I was blown away by this man's talent.  

In just 15 minutes I had taken well over 100 photographs before realising that I should really slow down – there were still another 45 vats to go. The main varieties on show were Showa, Sanke and Kohaku, although there were also a number of Chagoi, Sorogoi, Asagi, Tancho just to cover a few.

Kyle and myself did a lap of the full 50 vats, just to browse and take in the beautiful Koi, before we walked it again but at a much slower pace in order to really look and study the Koi. It is a competition after all! There were plenty of candidates for Grand Champion and the two of us were finding it hard to complete our form. Eventually our final selection was a stunning Sanke in vat 22. Everything about this Koi was perfect: body, shape and colour. Our work done, we grabbed a bacon buttie and sat down to hear Mark Davies, from Cuttlebrook Koi Farm, give a talk on water filtration and gave the vats one last tour. 

Scott's Grand Champion choice: Sanke 

On the way home we were itching to get in the garden and build new ponds straight away so it seemed like the perfect time to stop off at Richdons to have a look at what we would stock our imaginary, gigantic ponds with. 

Even our imaginary ponds had not prepared us for the new 27,000-gallon show pond at Richdon Koi – it simply blew our minds. And the Koi were incredibly tempting. I had my eye on a Chagoi and I wish I'd bought it now, especially as it was only £75 (and with the 15% discount, even less). They had five ponds with differently sized and priced Koi. The tour at Richdon Koi was incredibly informative, including visiting the growing on ponds, learning all about the filter set up, Koi food and the business as a whole. We will definitely be returning for their open weekend in June – Koi, beer, camping... yes please!

Our Koi appetite not yet sated Kyle was straight on the internet (yes one of those snazzy phones) looking for other breeders we could visit on the way back. Ichiban Koi in Tewkesbury came up trumps. Ringing ahead, we were more than welcome to pop our heads in.

Taking us out to the 4,000-gallon display pond I this time fell in love with an Asagi. They also had a smaller pond filled with lovely Shiro Utsuri and only £40. The temptation to get one there and then was overwhelming. But Ichiban have new stock coming in mid-March so we decided to reign in our impatience, and wait.

Jumping back in the car I spent the rest of the journey looking through all the photographs I'd taken that day and I'm still amazed at the sheer quality of the Koi. It was a great start to the Koi show season and you'll be hearing more on my travels around the country... 

Just a few of the Koi on show at the EMKC winter Koi Show. 

by Scott Green