MODERN FISHES

         The Modern Fish design is a re-invention of a design that came into prominence in the late 70’s. The original Fish was designed by Steve Lis of San Diego. The design features a full nose, full parallel rails ending in a wide swallow tail. The fins were set near the rails. The design was ridden very short generally between 4′10″ and 5′6″, and featured a very loose skaty feel, which worked well in small sloppy surf. Today’s Fish is generally ridden in lengths of 5′8″ - 6′6″. The widths range from 19 1/2″-21″. The noses fall between 11″-13″ and the tails range from 14″-15″. Some designs have wings and most bottoms have generally flatter rocker for increase speed. Todays fishes are ridden as twins, thrusters and now even Quad 4 Fins, although many of the 3 fin configurations use bigger side fins and a smaller trailer fin. Because of the added width, Fishes tend to ride flat on the wave and don’t transition from rail to rail very well making them difficult to surf vertically. However, the flat rocker and quick planing make this a very fast design that loves to race down the line and balst past slow sections on a wave. The Fish is best for intermediate to advanced Surfers.