Surfing Waves

Last Monday I surfed sunset cliffs the waves had 8 to 10ft faves but rolling slow into big heavy a-frames. So, hey, slow waves, fish then. First big wave I get hung up and tossed over the lip. Second wave the board slid out from under me.

I did catch the next 4 or 5 waves but it got me thinking, is it the surfer or the board? I've seen videos of fishes and single fins in big waves, and there where longboarders in the lineup taking off fine. So us it a case that a gun would be better or is it my lack o practice using the fish in big waves? I surfed similar conditions yesterday but it was closed out so I used the step up and did fine in closed out walled conditions

I can try to take it out more often to get used to the way it paddles and drops in, but is it the wrong hoard for big mushy bombs?.

I'd say so, yes
Obviously a fish doesn't work ever so well in steep waves (which I think is what most people on here including me mean when they say that fish don't work on big waves) but even on big crumbly waves, the speed that you can get going down the shallow face means that the fish goes from being fun to being too skatey. Add to that, the thickness of the rails means that its really easy to bog a rail, and hence some quite spectacular wipeouts

I do sometimes surf a fish on fairly large waves if they're fat (because I'm lazy and unfit and I'd like to be able to catch them) but I end up trying to control the drop (so that it doesn't slide away from me) rather than riding the drop, so invariably I'll get to the bottom of the face and stall or bog a rail.

drowningbitbybit wrote:
I do sometimes surf a fish on fairly large waves if they're fat (because I'm lazy and unfit and I'd like to be able to catch them) but I end up trying to control the drop (so that it doesn't slide away from me) rather than riding the drop, so invariably I'll get to the bottom of the face and stall or bog a rail.

Hence the question LOL, I too take it out on big mushy days to make it easier to get into waves. I have taken it out on overhead mushy days and had a blast but this time it was overhead and a half++

I don't have the bogging problem, but I do sometimes miss the cutback because of the low perfoance and rails, I end up on the shoulder unable to return to the wave face. Not all the time, but it drives me crazy when it does LOL

So, dump the fish when there are big mushy waves or just get better at riding it? Have been pondering buying a california gun, something equal in volume but much longer and better rails, but not if I just had a bad one-time experience.

themathteacher wrote:So, dump the fish when there are big mushy waves or just get better at riding it? Have been pondering buying a california gun, something equal in volume but much longer and better rails, but not if I just had a bad one-time experience.

I'm planning on exactly the same thing
Having spent quite a lot of the aussie summer on a fish, I've got loads of waves on it but also got to the board's and/or my limit on larger or steeper waves. I'm just in the planning/negotiation phase with my shaper for something like a 6'10 x 20 x 2 3/4 with a proper rocker and rails to try and get the most volume but keep the shortboard feel.

I own a 6'8 x 20 x 2 5/8 sharpeye step-up that I take out from time to time, and a gun 7'6" x 19 1/4 x 2 1/2 that I use down and baja and when it gets double overhead, so was thinking of a 7'6 x 20 x 2 3/4 or even 3" as a california gun for mushy big huge days ( and honestly, to sit outside with the longboarders lol) Still debating that.

I've had the step-up out in 10ft faces but not in mushy conditions, will have to try that next, kept thinking it did not have enough volume to paddle into those rollers but will have to check it out.

More to come, this might be the beggining of a threat on a new board LOL

Here's an ideal day for the fish, steep faces with mushy shoulders. I put slightly bigger MR fins and it seems to be holding better now. Will post again next time it gets bigger

Those waves look very fun - and a bit of Green Day to top it off

I looked at that wave for ages trying to work out what was wrong with it...


...there are no other people on it

I really have been spending too much time surfing in Sydney recently

Actually, we had to walk 2 miles to find a peak that no one else was on, it was just my 4 buds and I and no one else showed up for 2 hours. Fun day