Reeling in that fish Take 2 ( plus a question )

General Discussion
1

Well I rode this baby for a week at a few reefs and points,clean , slopey waves from stomach/chest high to over head.You all know it anyway , but everything they say about fish is true.

Lined up waves gave me a really good chance to work the board out, and boy it flies !

Fast out of the gate , drivey but also pretty loose, which suits me - I’m a ’ swooper and slicer’ rather than a ‘slasher and basher’.Although I’ve pulled a few moves out of the bag on this that I didn’t think I’d ever do again. Other times I’ve felt like real kook!

Very sensitive to foot placement I’ve noticed, but that’s all good - you just learn the different sweet spots over time.

I love the skatiness and the way you can do speed pumps and just fly across a long wall.

Back home at my regular beach breaks it’s still good although when the waves get o’hd they need to be clean- with all that volume and area it doesn’t like lumps and chop when you’re really motoring.I’ve been bucked off a few times hehe.

I’m pleasantly surprised with how vert I can get it too.

I’m probably making myself sound like more of a surfer than I really am ,but that’s probably the point- it makes me feel like more of a surfer than I am.

One thing I’ve noticed is on a faster wave when I crank a bottom turn or I’m zipping along the coping, the tail can drift.Quite a pleasant sensation actually, But I want to experiment with firming it up with a trailer.

there’s two options - a little finlet / keel sorta like on Cuttlefish’s board in his avatar ( which won’t give much nose/tail spread - but is that important ?)

 or taking a page from Beatty and Griffin's book and moving the fin back by splitting it in half and spreading the area

How far back should it go ? What are the pros and cons of each? There’s actually not all that much about fish trailers in the archives.

I’ve seen one of Sr Pato’s boards with this setup.

Anyone with experience ,advice,witty suggestions? Thanks people.

ps. as I write this I’ve just realized there might be option three- finlets in front of/beside the keels.Oh my head…

2

Nuclear,

Nice fish. I think you should leave it as a twin keel and make another board with fin options(boxes). Any excuse to build another. Mike

3

The “drift” I hear people say is a fin placement ,or design flaw and not a need for a “thruster wannabe” crutch. It is the reason so many knowledgable or experienced fish deciples stand in line for pavels or Lis fish.My fish boards are if anything STIFF until the waves get some juice then they loose the stiffness.

4

i got a great idea and you can be the guinea pig

im really digging on MARK spINDLERs MVGS

make up some finlets with bases and stickem on with 5 min epoxy

i think they could be maybe up to 2inches high and be strong enough

depending on the width of the base

you could even use contact adhesive

i rekon those two little ones would be fine

i want one with 9 fins or something

so i can say"oryeah how manys yours got"

5

Liquid, be gentle with me fella, it’s my first time. heh heh

Straightforward questions beget straightforward answers I suppose. : )

I did intend to mention in my earlier post ,but forgot, that I can see how a fully dialled , fine tuned fish by a reputable shaper would be just the beezkneez.

It’s certainly my hack board, not the fish concept (which I’m now sold on)in general.

But it’s not really a problem anyway (the drift), I actually like it - I’m just interested in experimenting.

Thanks for the replies everyone , it’s all food for thought.

Carry on

6

don listen to surfing style police mate

stick emon with contact

move em round

get 7 of em if you like or as rooster say make another one

and anyone dumb enough to wait 6 months for thirty year old design

deserves to be parted with the folding ones

7

Try some of these

\

Have had the “herb spitzer” superchargers in for around 12 months now, and have never taken them out. Definately paddels faster and turns sharper. I never use the trailer anymore as im used to surfing it as a twin ( maybe technically a quad ), and dont need a trailer, it just stiffens it up.

Cheers

8

I like using rail blades - puts the ‘‘fin’’ where you really need it in a turn.

Still can’t believe this hasn’t caught on with the sways fish crew. I’m offline all day so if you want to see

what I’m talking about check the ‘‘L-fins redux’’ thread.

Mike

9

Thanks for the reminder.I participated in that 'L fins ’ thread and the other

tsj fins article one.

I notice the pics of your board don’t appear anymore so I’ll add them here for anyone interested.

It’s looking like I might just forget trailers and try out superchargers and /or blades.

Beerfan thanks for the reminder as well .I spent some time trawling through the archives last night and found everything I need to know about Herb’s magic charms.

It’s funny , one reason I didn’t do any colour work on my board was to make it easier to hack , chop and modify it.

Now I feel all sentimentally attached to it… suppose I’ll just have to learn to be ruthless in the name of progress.

I have this picture in my minds eye of the house in a few years ,full of fish leaning in the corners , in all the cupboards …