I have noticed for a while that fish are very popular, popular enough to have its own festival ( fish fry )!, and there are plenty of them in the archives. To me the general description of easy paddling, easy wave catching, lightning fast, but loose seems a good combo. I havent had time lately to finish shaping my 1st attempt at a fish, so it’s been buzzin around my head for a while. So, tell me, why do you like your fish??
Funny you would ask that Beerfan. I’ve been thinking about that alot lately.
I’m not sure, that I do like my fish.
My surfing style changes when I ride it and it takes a session or two with my
every day thruster to get back to where I want to be.
You need to temper that statement with the fact that I live on the east coast
of Florida. I surf beach break, and it is only good randomly.
I surf a fish on flat mushy days and it works great. Like you mentioned it gets into
waves easily, paddles fast…
But when a good day arrives, I jump back on my tri fin and feel awkward for
a few waves. I’m considering giving up my fish for good.
I just ordered a quad from Dan Taylor. 5’10", 10 7/8 x 18 1/8 x 14 1/4
Not sure how I’m gonna like it but Dan’s boards are magic.
I’m hoping to replace my fish with this board.
well i live on the east coast so small waves most the time so theres no need for a thruster untill fall
but i just like how loose they feel and the easy paddling is a plus too
also i skate so its almost as normal as breathing for me but thats just me
Because it doesnt taste like chicken. 
because for me, it’s a lot more fun in small waves than my longboards. In fact I hardly ever surf my longboards anymore, that’s how much fun I have on the fish.
I don’t know why folks say they catch waves easily. I took me a while to figure out wave catching on my fish. They don’t paddle that quickly and kind of need to be sprinted instead of brought up to speed. Maybe it’s just me.
At any rate… I like 'em because you can really turn and carve them in almost nothing! They’re great for beating sections… so really crappy days can be a lot of fun. I agree with Keith… My fish raises the bar on the sort of surf I take my longboard out in… I’m more likely to wait for really clean conditions before my longboard comes out.
Beerfan, reading your post it sounds like you already know why i like my fish. The guy i loaned it to likes it too and has had it for like 9 months.
one time around two years back at a little spot named beavers (another story) i was paddling for a wave and some dude was next to me sorta covering/trying to snake me. we both catch the wave at the same time and are droppin in and i pretty much just bottom turned around him and went down the line past the guy. That was cool.
For the record i am pretty out of shape, i work to much and have become a lousy surfer, but if i can drag myself to my feet, my fish pretty much makes up for it.
This thread so needs pics–it would be so fun to see exact shapes people are talking about, with dims, outline and rocker shots, bottoms, rider dims, surfing pics
Good thread though.
(I really just wanted to see Melville’s ans scottw’s after reading their posts.)
Photo:
I love my fish with a passion that borders on criminal. It is not my most high-performance board, not the best wave-catcher, nor the best paddler.
But when I ride it, it feels like surfing is supposed to feel.
When I pump it down the line on a clean peeling wave, I can get into a perfect rhythm that feels like a pendulum swinging… Like I can find just the right frequency to derive the most from the wave’s own power, adding my own in just the right amount, at just the right time, boosting my speed endlessly until I’m far out onto the shoulder.
And then I have to cut back.
It doesn’t throw as much spray as other boards I have, doesn’t cut as tight an arc, won’t break loose in a flashy, splashy show of bleeding-edge fin technology.
But when I put my heels into it, it comes around in a carving arc like it was on a rail. Never a moment’s concern that it will slip or blow out, I can power through as hard and as fast as my legs will allow.
It isn’t technical to ride, it requires virtually no conscious thought. Simple intent takes me from one place to another on the wave.
A great ride on another board is a challenge, an event, an accomplishment, a photo op.
A great ride on my fish is pure joy, is bliss, is nirvana.
I love my fish because it is fun.
I like the way they paddle for a board under six feet. They get up to planing speed really fast which good is for a guy like be that is getting older and slowing down a bit. Keith’s right about the longboard. Fishes are more fun than longboards(my personal opinion, of course). They work well in knee high to a few feet overhead which is the size surf I ride 90 percent of the time. I love the way you can pump and glide, pump and glide when the surf lines up. Plus, they are so goofy looking. mike
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it reminds me of riding a bowl with loose trucks on my skatey
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it’s fun !
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I can use 1 , 2, 3, 4 , 5 or 6 fins [variety]
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as long as there is enough push to the wave , I can get speed and do a few turns
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the concave deck feels nice
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because I don’t “have” to ride a mal , like other people my age seem to think they "have " to .
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later drops deeper than on my mal [“longboard”]
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because it is fun to ride something I made , and different to anything available in the shops
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it’s another option in the quiver
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because it makes people wonder why [" I would want to stand up on a ‘kneeboard’ "]
cheers ben
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_________________________…Shipman&Stingraycollaboration
Quote:
Photo:
I love my fish with a passion that borders on criminal. It is not my most high-performance board, not the best wave-catcher, nor the best paddler.
But when I ride it, it feels like surfing is supposed to feel.
When I pump it down the line on a clean peeling wave, I can get into a perfect rhythm that feels like a pendulum swinging… Like I can find just the right frequency to derive the most from the wave’s own power, adding my own in just the right amount, at just the right time, boosting my speed endlessly until I’m far out onto the shoulder.
And then I have to cut back.
It doesn’t throw as much spray as other boards I have, doesn’t cut as tight an arc, won’t break loose in a flashy, splashy show of bleeding-edge fin technology.
But when I put my heels into it, it comes around in a carving arc like it was on a rail. Never a moment’s concern that it will slip or blow out, I can power through as hard and as fast as my legs will allow.
It isn’t technical to ride, it requires virtually no conscious thought. Simple intent takes me from one place to another on the wave.
A great ride on another board is a challenge, an event, an accomplishment, a photo op.
A great ride on my fish is pure joy, is bliss, is nirvana.
I love my fish because it is fun.
Nice ode, Jarrod. Needs some parentheticals (which board is your best wave-catcher, and which one paddles best?) though
What kind of fins and bottom did you sculpt into that beauty again?
More fish odes! More fish porn!
A fish turns crappy waves into fun waves and fun waves into really fun waves good waves into . . . well, I wouldn’t paddle my fish out in good waves unless it was a long, tapering point with plenty of open face to really get the momentum going on the turns.
I also think that a fish forces you to relax your surfing, focus more on what the wave has to offer, and appropriately use your rail . . . all skills that carry over nicely into any other board.
but thats true about retro single fins also
but fishies are my favorite
love fish …
strong carves off the top,
more intuitive cutbacks,
pump some turns straight from take off and the thing flies,
more stable on steep drops,
glide factor - sweet feeling
drop in surprise factor - might have a kook lookin’ board but I’m right up yer arse
took the back fin out - much better !!!
foam bounces
one happy monkey on a missile
Everything im hearin makes think i will like this board a lot!!!
I dig fish because it allows me to utilise totally different parts of the wave and generate speed doing the quirky things i love.
Shwuz…why is your fish wearing shoes?
This is my Fish.
There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My Fish is my best friend.
It is my life.
I must master it as I must master my life.
My Fish, without me, is useless.
Without my Fish, I am useless.
I must ride my Fish true.
I must deeper than my enemy,
who is trying to stuff me.
I must stuff him before he stuffs me.
I will.
My Fish and myself know that what counts in the ocean,
is not the numer of turns,
the noise from our mouths,
nor the surf accessories we wear.
We know it is the deep carves and barrells that count.
We will get barrelled.
My Fish is human, even as I, because it is my life.
Thus, I will learn it as a brother.
I will learn its weaknesses,
its strengths,
its parts,
its accessories,
I will ever guard it against
the ravages of weather and damage.
I will keep my Fish clean and ready,
even as I am clean and ready.
We will become part of each other.
We will.
Before God I swear this creed.
My Fish and myself are the defenders of my Point.
We are the masters.
We are the saviors of my life.
So be it.