What are the limitations of Fish type boards (i.e. wave size)?

How big of conditions can you ride a fish shape in?? Are they limited solely to small days?? thanks

NO! You can ride them is overhead stuff just remember that there is always some give and take in every board design.Herb.

As long as you are a decent paddler, a fish will definitly work in big surf. You have tons of speed. It’s easy to duckdive a fish under big whitewater. You can go almost anywhere on the face of the wave. It’s a nice alternative to your regular big-wave board. The only drawback is that wide tails can get a little sketchy in big surf. But it’s nothing that you can’t adjust to. If you can get a copy of, Searching For Tom Curren, it shows him riding a 5’6" rocket fish in some pretty big stuff.

It depends on the type of fish you’re talking about. A regular shortboard with a wider swallowtail I don’t consider a fish and they aren’t set up to handle size. Curren rode one in some pretty sizeable stuff, but that’s Curren. Wide point forward with a complimentary foil, fairly deep swallow and the proper rocker can and does work well in size (couple feet overhead). These boards have an aspect ratio that allows some serious speed. There are always exceptions to everything but this is based on my personal experience. aloha

How big of conditions can you ride a fish shape in?? Are they limited > solely to small days?? thanks You could manage a fish in a bigger wave that is a soft breaking “long board” style wave to maybe a foot or so overhead. As for a fast pitching wave breaking head to toe, get off the fish at about shoulder high. On a larger, fast wave, expect the following from the fish: being pitched off the lip, getting pearled, spin-out, and generally man handled like a show girl in the back room of road-side bar. Shine http://users.leading.net/~shine

So then could we assume that if you were to ride a mid-length fish shape w/a trailer fin in waves a couple of feet overhead, you’d be covered? Considering that you’re an experienced surfer?

So then could we assume that if you were to ride a mid-length fish shape > w/a trailer fin in waves a couple of feet overhead, you’d be covered? > Considering that you’re an experienced surfer? Is this supposed to be a rhetorical question? Spit it out, bro. Shine http://users.leading.net/~shine

I don’t own a board like the one in question, but I’m thinking about getting one. I just wanted to know if they worked well in slightly overhead surf.

I don’t own a board like the one in question, but I’m thinking about > getting one. I just wanted to know if they worked well in slightly > overhead surf. All depends on the wave. If its overhead and pitching, the fish will give you trouble. I had a 6’2" Al Merick fish a few years back – Twin fin with a trailer. Super fun board to ride – lots of slashy turns on smaller waves. But, I found that big, pitch’n surf was just not manageable on the fish. I could still ride in those conditions, but drops where hairy and, from time to time, would end up in a punishing explosion at the bottom of the wave. Fish nose rockers are too relaxed for when its steep and deep. I sold my fish since I would rather ride a longboard when its small, or just stay home and shape boards when it is less than rib high. My personal opinion is that a fish is a good choice as an addition to a quiver – not your only board. I would hold on to a regular shortboard for when the waves get big and punchy. Good Luck Shine http://users.leading.net/~shine

Is this supposed to be a rhetorical question? Spit it out, bro.>>> Shine Straight from the control center ‘Newbreak/Sunset Cliffs, San Diego’. No more speculating, 'real’FISHES (i.e. 70’s wooden keel twinfins) were heavier and thick and were being ripped on at Big Rock double overhead by kneeboarders and standup, LIS(the inventor), Larry Gebhart(maker of wooden keel fins), Steve Thorton(shaper protege of Lis, newbreak Locals! From '71-'75 some guys ‘only’ rode FISHES. Nuuhiwa/Abellira at Pipeline, Huffman at Big Rock(mini-pipeline), the only hangup is doing a square off the bottom turn, forget it! If your capable of top turning and pumping into a roundhouse cutback the sky’s the limit, but this shape is not for you if your not up to aggressive pumping/speed. I rode Lis fishes for years, and was there when the Newbreak underground nailed Nuuhiwa’s board to the OB Pier in '72 at the world contest. After that we pulled the tails in 2" inches from approx. 12" to 10" and rode as single fins with lotsa vee so we could crank bottomturns and tighter arcs on our cutbacks(Bertleman and Ho blew our minds at the contest), still thick/Volanglass or Isotalic glass, then we called them ‘summerfishes’ we(we meaning the first group to ride a unique shape) thought the G+S and Skip Fry versions were lame and NUUHIWA a design ripoff…but that’s all history now!

Thank you! …somehow the original Fish has been confused with another entirely different species (board design). Overhead no problem, best choice for overhead? perhaps not, that’s what a quiver is for and “your mileage may vary”. My fish goes with me everywhere. **Huh- who shaped some of the fish using the Choice label in San Diego? Remember the Fresh Fish label in O.B.? whose was that? TS

How big of conditions can you ride a fish shape in?? Are they limited > solely to small days?? thanks howzit? i’ve been riding a traditional fish (as seen at surfenginez.com) as my primary board for 1.5yrs now. i just got back from fiji a couple of weeks ago and rode it in waves well overhead, i’d say up to 1.5x and it performed remarkably well. it dealt with southern hemi juice just fine. i will agree however; with some of the others in that the more hollow a wave is, the timing of your take-off becomes more critical. this is the most evident in jacking, super hollow waves. speed as tom curren put it “seems to be unlimited”. you can pump for speed in the smaller or mushier stuff, but i’ve found as the wave shape gets to be more hollow, you more or less get to harness the waves power and the need to pump becomes nil. another difference is the lines you draw, a more downline style with s turns and round house cutbacks is the tendency rather than going vertical ala the conventional thruster. overall, i’d say a fish is really fun board to ride in a wide variety of conditions. the limiting factor is probably how “wired” you’ve got the board so that you can deal with changing conditions…

It`s usually true that the smaller the board + hollower, more powerful and larger waves = increasingly critical timing and takeoff… no matter what the shape. But once past that point, Fish (especially those that are closest to traditionally dimensioned and finned) still have much to offer in gnarly, overhead waves… and even moreso if the rider happens to be an experienced kneeboarder.

i think everyone has said it very well – a fish can be very versatile – depending on the rider. see tom curren in searching for tom curren, or better yet see derrick hynd surfing j-bay on a skip frye in litmus. the boards are not “easy” to surf, especially if you are bigger. take-offs are not easy. paddling is not easy. (as compared to a midlength or longboard). but, the board is fun. it takes awhile to get used to. my problem with mine is this: on the days that the thing would really work best i would rather have my longboard, my hull or even my air mat out there. i guess if you have unlimited surf time, and consistenly good waves you wouldn’t have my problem. fyi – mine is a traditional skip frye, gephart shaped fins, 5’10"

How big of conditions can you ride a fish shape in?? Are they limited > solely to small days?? thanks Fish type boards are generally designed for smaller waves. It’s width basically helps produce more drive and momentum in smaller waves. I ride a hybrid fish (6’4")occasionally when I get tired of riding my longboard and have used it in waves up to 4 ft. (Hawaiian) with no problems. After that I prefer to use my longboard because I can position myself better in the line up, get into waves easier and get over (most times) the clean up sets!

Thank you! …somehow the original Fish has been confused with another > entirely different species (board design). Overhead no problem, best > choice for overhead? perhaps not, that’s what a quiver is for and > “your mileage may vary”. My fish goes with me everywhere.>>> **Huh- who shaped some of the fish using the Choice label in San Diego? > Remember the Fresh Fish label in O.B.? whose was that?>>> TS Choice is still owned by a Point Loma/Newbreak guy named Toby, he also shapes Brewer. Fresh Fish sounds like a local brand out of the '70’s OB surfshop the Greenroom, those guys left for Kauai in early '80’s and never came back. I own a early seventies 5’10"G+S Skip Fry woodfin Fish but only a collector not for riding.

Thanks for the info. I’ve got a 5’8" Choice that started out as a twinzer. Definitely some Brewer influence on the shape, the rail template smacks of some earlier Brewer style. Interesting pencil art on the bottom along the stringer, maybe one of Toby’s. I found it in a pawn shop 8 years ago, rode it for 4 years off and on after 10+ years of never even considering riding the shape again. It was like running in to an old friend. The twinzers came off to experiment with different fin placement and templates. Somewhere in there I decided to make my own and I started some online searches. Ray S. and his brother gave me a lot of help over on B.Jones forum then I stumbled into Swaylocks. No turning back now, having way too much fun. Mil Gracias, Tom>>> Choice is still owned by a Point Loma/Newbreak guy named Toby, he also > shapes Brewer. Fresh Fish sounds like a local brand out of the '70’s OB > surfshop the Greenroom, those guys left for Kauai in early '80’s and never > came back. I own a early seventies 5’10"G+S Skip Fry woodfin Fish but > only a collector not for riding.

I had a 5’ 10" retro (Lis) style Fish for a while. It was fast as anything, but the lack of nose rocker gave it a tendancy to pearl in anything but flat-faced surf. Hollow surf was a nightmare. I ended up selling it for something more versaltile. A buddy of mine, who is afar better surfer than me, came to the same conclusion with his. He also found that the heavy rails in the nose made it harder to go vertical, and easier to catch a rail when trying to bring it around. I wish I has mine for small, flat faced summer days, but over all I found it to have an extremely limited application. Of course, Curren and others made them work, but Curren could ride anything and make it look good.