Surfing Waves

I've been surfing a good 3-5 times a week for about 2 months now. I live in Southern California, Orange County to be specific. I started out on my buddy's 7'10" funshape and was riding 4/5 of the waves I went for within a few days. A few weeks ago I decided to switch to a 6'11" shortboard I had lying around. Was a pain in the ass at first, but for the past couple weeks I've been catching waves consistently and have gotten down the whole 'riding parallel with the wave' thing, instead of just going straight.

I rode one of my buddies fishes the other day and I had a hell of a lot more fun than what I was having with my shortboard (which apparently is pretty long for a shortboard). So I think I'm going to sell this board, and pick up a fish.

Now, I don't know the first thing about fishes. I'm reading up and theres quad fins, tri fins, double fins... long, short, etc. This is my gameplan and what I am trying to achieve:

I am surfing smaller and smaller waves as we get closer to summer here in Socal, and I want to pick up a fish that will be fast and agile, but will work well in small mushy waves. I will be riding almost everyday with this fish until June.

In June I am leaving to live in Hawaii for the summer, and will be picking up a brand new board best suited for the HI waves this summer. I'm guessing this will also be a fish.

So for this spring in OC, what type of fish would you guys recommend? Just a general type of board for my desires (fast & agile) ie - quad fin, tri fin, board size, etc, as I will just be buying a used one on CL for this spring. I'm 20 years old, 5'11", 160 pounds, and physically fit.

And for Oahu in the summer, what type of fish would you guys recommend I get? Again, fast & agile... but this time the sky is the limit on the price. I will be buying brand new, and will be looking for the best.

I see a lot of fishes don't have a traction pad. It seems pretty impossible to do tricks (cutabcks, etc) without a stomp pad? Or are you not supposed to do tricks like that on a fish?

Also, if someone could briefly explain the differences between all the different fishes, I'd really appreciate it

Ok, hopefully that wasn't too long winded. Thank you guys in advance!

i have no idea, but am also interested in seeing what the others have to say

rvcasrfr wrote:In June I am leaving to live in Hawaii for the summer, and will be picking up a brand new board best suited for the HI waves this summer. I'm guessing this will also be a fish.

for cali, i'd look for a 5'8"-5'10" retro fish, quad or twin fin is up to you and your personal preference. you don't need a traction pad. for hawaii, depending on your skill level by then, you're going to want a traditional shortboard and/or a semi-gun. you could keep the quad fin setup on the shortboard. but you're going to want a thruster on a semi-gun

What do you guys think about the 7S Super Fish? I can get an 07 brand new for $250. I know about the whole local shaper thing but I'm really tight on cash and reading really good things about the boards performance, especially for a beginner... Durability not so much, but I just scored a killer job so in a few months money isn't going to be an issue (hence the summer in Hawaii).. So really the board just needs to last me til summer and after that I'll definitely be getting some custom boards done. Here is a pic:



5'9" That's a tri fin set up right? Should I be looking for a quad or does it not really matter? Also, could I put a traction pad on that? Would I want to? If not, why not?

So for HI in the summer you guys definitely think a short board would be appropriate? From what I know, waves are pretty mellow 2-4, maybe 5, footers all summer long in Waikiki... isn't that perfect for a fish/hybrid? Or are fish/hybrids only for small AND mushy?

What do you guys think of a Webber Afterburner & shortboard combo for summer? Is there a large enough difference between the Afterburner and a shortboard to justify having them both?

Thanks again guys.

I live in San Diego and surf my fish about 75% of the time.
It has the following Dims:
6'2"x21.5x2.75
Wide point is 3" north of center point
Tail is 9.5" wide point to point
Went with the quad fin setup using the future vector3s
Reason I went with a 6'2" is so I could ride ankle slapper all the way to OH waves with no probs.
I would recomend going with a twin keel or quad fin setup as this fin setups reduce drag which helps a lot in the small summer slop and especially with the quad fin setup you get gobs of drive for down the line speed. I have no need for a stomp pad on my fish but if you want one go to town. Personal preference completely. What you will want on Oahu will be dependent on what kind of waves you are riding. Will be getting mostly south swell that time of year. But if you get a hybrid fish done properly I am sure you could manage. Get's tricky when the waves get more hallow though.

when just getting started i definitely prefer just buying a board straight off the rack, until you know what you want talking to a shaper can be pretty pointless. the 7s would be a great starter fish especially for SoCal, its been tried and proven to be a great board.

i ride the tom carrol plus byrne 6'0 its kind of a hybrid fish, with larger fins it works from 2ft slop to over head puerto escondido.

anyways any 5'8 - 6'2 fish will serve you well in SoCal.

Is the quad fin worth an extra $250 for a beginner?

if you can surf a fish already as you said, can't remember if you gave your size and weight? but i'd go for a small twin fish (depending on your size). great for smaller mushier waves and if you're gonna buy a new board for Hawaii i don't think the best board is a fish????

i live on oahu (ewa beach to be exact) and i hardly see anyone riding fish out here. i mostly see longboarders to be honest, and out of my quiver of 5 boards (2 long, 1 short, 2 mini-mals), my 9'2 Chronic is by far my favorite board. it handles weak, knee high waves just fine, and i have slayed 15' makaha with it as well (to the chagrin of whining crybaby locals). it has all the characteristics of a longboard, but is really thin and light with some big wave gun characteristics as well. hauls ass to escape nasty sections, turns on a dime, but floats my 180 lb. frame for small action.

if you want a great board for the summer south shore season ( WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!! ) check these guys out http://www.hawaiisurffactory.com in wahiawa, and get yourself a Chronic longboard. talk to Otis Schaper (his real name, swear to god!), he is in direct contact with Tommy Tanaka.

see you on da water! shoots

mike

I wouldnt get a twin keel retro fish if i were you as most learners even advanced surfers often have trouble surfing backhand on them.
If all the waves you want to surf are on your forehand it might be a good idea..Twin keels are great forward surfing boards, quads are slightly less forward surfing and tris are less forward surfing again..
I would go for a quad.
However if the waves you want to surf are a mix of lefts and rights, or mostly on your backhand, a narrower tail is needed with widepoint further back.
A board like 19" wide is good.. when you get into 20" wide its harder to surf backhand.

Unless you get a custom and talk to your shaper about all these issues..He should come up with something that will be fast in small waves, yet surfable easily enough both on lefts and rights..A mini mal isnt out of the question and might be surfed more often that any other board if its going to be small a lot.

The 7s is probably a good option..Personally i would go for a quad/tri option..You can go either..Quads are best surfed off rail to rail.

I tried the 7S, i quite liked it. You will probably like it alot.
Having said that, I ended up getting a different quad fish from a place in Santa Cruz. It was lighter and flatter, which felt better to me. Also I got a 6'6" for my fat ass and i use it for when the waves are small and the wife is using my 8'6".
i found the twin fin was a little to hard to control, so I went for the quad.