This year I started a project to purchase Omosako shiro utsuri tosai and watch them grow. The original six that I purchased from Genki Nishikigoi had different sumi looks. Sadly, one of them, Jesse James was picked off by some predator. I did add two more shiros, a small one purchased through the Koi Acres auction and another tosai purchased at the MPKS, Chicago through Kodama Koi Farms. Wild Bill was the biggest of the bunch and had two funny dots on his head, kind of like little horns. Always the first to eat and is still the largest of the six outlaws. Wild Bill has lost all of his sumi but you can see patches under the skin. It will be interesting to see if this winter more sumi will come up. The Sundance Kid has also lost sumi. It doesn’t show in the latest photo but you can see thin,little black lines on the top of the head. Butch Cassidy still retains much of his original look. Black Jack has been the most portly of the original group. While he does gain length, he’s been doing a good job putting on some girth. Black Jack is also very difficult to catch and is able to jump pretty high out of the water to escape a net. Billy the Kid has the brightest white skin when you bowl all the koi together. The sumi looks nice right now. I’m going to take him to the annual koi show because he might be at his peak now… Belle Star was very tiny when she arrived. She looked like a mini- Black Jack. Gaining length and some weight. Roxie is probably a future koi. Nice skin and nice sumi placement. Of course we never know what will happen over the next five years! Hopefully, I’ll be able to stick with my project and remember to take photos regularly.

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