Seems to have caused a stir over here among a few mates, some are saying “NOOOOOOOOOOO”…
Why is it considered ‘bad manners’ to put a pad on a fish?
Pad on a fish?
Why bad?
It just is.
Drew
you should also put on a rubber nose guard as well. Just kidding. It’s kinda like wearing booties with a spring suit. You just don’t do it. I’d probably be bummed on it as well.
dont listen to your mates
they be pussies
i wear booties with boardies
cuz urchin spines stay in for at least a year
a pad might help what is essentialy a out of date design
and really just a fad
get a hybrid thruster with fcs and a traction pad
and booties
and your mates will be eating your spray
as there back foots slip off and they get caught inside.
Concur with Silly. Don’t listen to your mates cuz they are pussies. Disagree about the shower mat. Shower mats look better in your shower than the deck of your board. Especially uncool on a fadish, out of date board. I love my fadish out of date fishes. I just wish the fad was over. No shower mats on any of my boards. Or, my shower. I think you should put one on BECAUSE your mates won’t like it. Or stick one on the bottom of one of their boards. Mike
So, can you wear colored swim caps when you surf?
ha ha shower mat
love it
i actually only started riding shower mats in the last month
i would like some suction cup booties though
incedentally
i went off and started building a compsand fish after i wrote that post
so i can cash in on the latest balsa fish fad 
i met a guy wearing a shower cap in the surf
he said to my mate he was a yachty
“oh that explains it”
not a good look unless your in the syncronised swimming team
my reason why (I would never trackpad a fish) is a true fish (twin keel, 20 + inch wide, usually under 6 ft) flattened rocker . . .
if you surf it off your back foot on the tail pad, like a thruster you will either slip like on a banana peel on a wood floor . . . or maintaining your balance (like I did) and it goes bog slow and thuster pumping doesn’t work.
I only spent a day on a fish, and I wasn’t surfer enought to catch the nuances to surf it off my front foot . . . Couple times I did, and the thing just lit up in speed. No pumps, just point where to go and it goes . . .
Trackpads on a thruster help with back foot placement and digging in when turning or snaps . . . since they surfed off the back foot it helps . . .
The only thing wrong with putting a traction pad on a fish is that it looks so bam ugly.
If it didnt i would be using one as they do have function.
your right they do look ugly.
but not quite as ugly as the average fish surfers style .
or for that matter the outline on a fish 
im going for the full deck grip on mine
when i make it
i use back foot traction pads on all my thruster shortboards. they typically have a very specific sweet spot & it’s good to have your back foot planted right on the tail over the engine room of the fin cluster.
but i never use pads on my fish (or my singlefins or even my 7’7" thruster semigun). the sweet spots of these boards is much more generous, i find i move around a lot more on them.
also, they’re ugly. haha.
here’s a spanner for you …
what about kneeboarders on fish ? [ after all, they ARE kneeboards ?]
…Should THEY wear shower caps ? oops …I mean have grip deck , for their knees ?
or what about maybe if you bellyboard on them ? full length safe surf protection ?
Paul ,
how about glueing a “shower mat” onto the front of your wetsuit , putting on a bathing cap [don’t forget the nose plugs ! [for when you will invariably wipe out, silly!] ]
and
get your videographer to film it for us ?
And be sure to post the footage here , then we can mass debate about if the shower cap should have been made out of eps/ epoxy or a “poopee”…
ben …seriously …
okay , so …grip deck doesn’t look ugly on thrusters ,
only on fish ??
come ON , guys …
Quote:
Why is it considered ‘bad manners’ to put a pad on a fish?
“Is this blasphemy?” you ask.
Those who believe anything in surfboards matter can be a blasphemy should shut up at once.
Surfing is about stoke, fun, pleasure.
Not about “do and don’t”.
No rules allowed, no ultimate solution.
Each one experiment’s are good ways to go.
If you feel like putting a pad on a fish, feel free.
I personaly neve use pads, shortboards, longboards, fishes, singles live naked and waxed in my quiver.
“singles live naked and waxed”
not a bad way to live …especially on those warm french beaches in summer … now , if you can just get those white beached whales to move off the beach , you froggies are LAUGHING !
Ooooooo. Compsand fishies give me a ‘woodie’. I’m hoping Benny 1 or someone around here will give a demo on the construction. I can’t READ how to do it. I need to SEE how to do it. Shower mats look sh…ty on any board. To each his own. Mike
Mike - you might want to get in touch with cj3…he’s in Santa Cruz and is doing great work.
I, on the other hand, chased bag leaks until 1:40 am last night until my pump finally siezed up. Hacked board, ruined pump, failed redundancies in bagging & sealing. I don’t think you want a demo in that
Bummer, Ben. Maybe you’ll have to go ‘retro’ and do a board the old fashion way. Mike
I REALLY REALLY agree with what you say. Im not saying its wrong just that its not for me. I think
that shortboards and grip look good together because they have been standardised by the pros etc etc.
I rekon that if when they came out the pros and everyone else except fish, single, longboard riders hated them then we would be having a different conversation like why shouldnt you out one on your fish and how could you put one on a shorty.
Makes ya think aye
anyone got a pic of a fish with one on? for example perposes.
^ not mine.
Functional or not - to me that looks hideous - and all my thrusters have tail pads, but my fish doesn’t. There’s times when I wish it did, but it goes fine without one.
well
in the church of surfing
of which im a faithful follower
(other than than that i dont believe much in any other religous waffle)
(except for porno and mind altering substances)
there are a few activities that could be considered blasphemy.
and other that could be mearly considered bad taste.
if we could take a an example from other religions
it would be fair to say that guidlines set forth by our “Prophets”,
as example for the devotees.
could be largely ignored in the pursuit of selfish financial gain, or sexual gratification
and can be used in conjunction with scare tactics used largley to control said devotees.
(ie if you sin, well send you to florida)
(or arizona for that matter)
an example of the typical hypocrosy in all religions would be
a surfshop owner who drops in all the time
(who doesnt know one of those)
A “Soul Surfer”
with sponsers.
A shaper ,
who imports surfboards.
pro surfers
that drop in
etc etc etc
as in any religion, our commandments are largley broken by the so called “leaders” of our movement
so although i may get a stern talking to and have to do 20 hail hueys for having grip on a fish.
what about clothing manufactures that run sweatshops in asia.
anyway, all that aside, this can only lead to one thing
the “holy grail” of surfing
4 ft barrels in warm water with a few chicks in g strings paddling around in front of you.
that are traveling and need a place to stay for the night.
and get drunk on one beer.
if you keep the faith
this may happen to you one day