Board Length Questons

[FreshWater]

I am new to surfing. Currently I have a 7'9 BIC board, going by their site ths is the size (or bigger) that I should be using for my surf conditions.
ie: Lake Superior no ocean for me.
But looking on the Channel Islands site, I see that they recommend more of a shortboard (the Five comes to mind) for ankle high surf and above!
What I dont understand is how two seemingly different size and shape boards can both work in small surf conditions, and if getting a Channel Island would be a bad thing eventually for my surf conditions?

[drowningbitbybit]

I know nothing about surfing on a lake. In fact I didnt even know you could surf on a lake until a thread on here a couple of months ago


But anyway... there's different types of boards that work on 'small' waves due to the kind of wave. A small, slow breaking mellow wave will be best with a longboard and not even surfable with a shortboard. On the other hand, a small but steep wave will be best with a shortboard.

Im guessing lake waves are locally generated windwaves (can it be a ground swell? Just how big are these lakes?) so they're gonna be pretty gutless (even if they get to a fair size). So I doubt a channel island flyer is the way to go.

But as I said, I know nothing about lakes

[FreshWater]

Lake Superior is part of the Great Lakes, the largest concentration of fresh water in the world. The size of this lake is massive, hundreds of kilometers across and hundreds of feet deep. I realize that it pales in comparison to the oceans of the world, but its not like an average lake by any means.
That being said, I do understand now what u mean about the shape and type of waves, I know some guys will use short boards on bigger days here.
Thanks for your input, I will do some more research and post anything I find out.

[rich r]

The Great Lakes get some decent size conditions; see "Step Into Liquid".

Also, groundswell is just windswell that has travelled longer and further.

Anyway, to answer the question posed;

Shortboards in small surf take more aggressive paddling and surfing to get the wave to push you along. Now, depending on the shortboard, it will either perform or not in really small surf.

A shortboard can be wider, say even up to 22 inches or so, and still be a classic 'thruster' shape versus a fish. It's ability to perform in small waves (knee high) has to do with the rail, thickness, concavity and rocker. And the surfer, of course.

the Five is much more a performance board compaired to the M4. the M4 would probably be better for lower skill levels - though I can't find any info on widths and thickness. If you look at the Flyer, though, they mention the width is wider, which helps it pick up smaller waves easier (more like a longboard with more surface to catch the wave).

Basically, with greater width and thicker rails (coupled with the right rocker and concavity), it makes it easier to pick up smaller waves. However, thinner rails and thinner (width-wise) boards are typically much more manueverable because you can grab the water harder without getting 'stuck', and dig into the wave without it stalling you or sucking you in.

I ride my 8'6" mini-longboard like a thruster. It's definately more sluggish to turn than my shortboards, but it can move when I need speed.

If you're ready to paddle harder than you have to with your BIC, then go for a shortboard thruster like the Flyer, KSmall or M4. They're alot like the old Lost Mayhem I have and it performed pretty well for me in smaller stuff.

If you want to be able to catch a lot with less effort, a mini-longboard could be the way to go, as I use it in head-high to 3 foot overhead surf as well as ankle biters.