Surfing Waves

What is the difference between a fish and a regular shortboard...is one better for smaller, weak surf?
which one is easier to catch waves with? Which has more speed? Would a fish be better for inconsistant Florida surf???

Proper fishes generally have a higher volume, less rocker, but more width and shorter length, a swallow tail and are designed for smaller mushier waves, and shortboards are more performance orientated, narrower, more rocker, thinner rails and can therefore handle bigger, steeper and more hollow surf.
however,neither of them are for novices, so i would suggest that if you dont know what the difference is between the two, then you probably arent ready for either of them.
what board do you currently ride, whats your experience level and what are the conditions you surf in?

i would agree my experience level is not high...I have only surfed 3 summers in florida...so obiviously it is hit and miss as far as getting consistant waves to work with...i surf a funshape and I feel that I have mastered the 7' and up size boards and I am wanting to get into a faster and more performance shape...i had heard that the fish is good for small mushy conditions and since I have such a small window to catch good surf I want a shortboard that will help me catch even the smaller surf...I started surfing a 6'2 last week i picked up at a yard sale for 75 bucks...i caught waves but couldnt generate any real long rides...

how much volume does that 6'2 have and what shape is it? is it more of a fish or a performance shorboard? if you are running out of speed and stalling out of the waves it may be that your board is too small for the power of the waves you are surfing and may need something with a higher volume to keep the speed over the flat sections in the wave. did you have the same issue on the 7fter?

where abouts in florida do you surf, im going to be working on one of the cruise ships out of port canaveral starting on october 30th and will be there every sunday, so looking for some surf buddies who can show me the local area, have surfed cocoa beach once before and looking to buy a second hander and surf the pier even if just for 1 hour before work each week.