Surfing Waves

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Not hard at all. It's a bigger fish, so it should float you fine, and the width and thickness will not make it too loose. For your weight it's probably a better choice. Enjoy

aerodyne,
never look a gift horse in the mouth! Sounds like a good board. Be sure to let us know how you progress. Photos are encouraged.
Billie

Free boards are good but you will progress quicker if you haven't surfed before on a bigger board in my opinion.

KS

you might as well ride it. my first board was a 6'4" shortboard i got for $60. i could stand and ride it after a few sessions. but once i started riding some bigger boards, i progressed a lot faster. the fish you got is fairly large for your size, so it should float you more than enough. the only difficulty you might have is duck diving. i'm about the same size as you and i ride a 5'6" fish, and sometimes i have issues with it duck diving. but it's more of the design of the board than anything else. that much foam in such a small package is going to cause it to be corky

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No, your board will be fine. Fishes only come alive at those conditions. Oh, and when you say 3-4 foot, you mean the back or the front? If you mean the front, that board will still take you into waves twice that size and bigger. If you mean the back, well, as long as you can handle the conditions the board will do you good. I personally recommend fishes for beginners over longboards and funboards, because they are easier to turn around and move around, and aren't so cumbersome. They are also great all-round boards and will take you into most conditions you will find yourself in your first two years, so even if you get a new board, you can still surf your older, more familiar board on the hollow days. Although it is true that a long/funboard will get you more waves in the first few months, a fish will help you move around sections easier because you can control it, whilst still being stable enough. It will also help you when you start turning.

Aah, but on a longboard you can float those sections with ease!!

If you are catching waves on it, it will be fine. Just because a board isn't designed for a certain type of waves doesn't mean you can't surf on it. I highly recommend longboards for beginners unless you're a young 'un. But I also recommend not chopping and changing too much. If you can surf a board and are happy with it, stick with it. Bring it out in all conditions. Don't cheat on it with other boards. Take care of it. That way you have one constant, which will help you learn what conditions are good for your board. This will in turn help you learn where your board is lacking. Then you can decide if you need another board for a different spot or for a different type of swell etc.

whoa. this was a long time ago. I've graduated to a modern fish shortboard 5'11" 2 1/4. my favorite board now. i'm at the point where i'm making sections. whoever said that starting on a shortboard is tortuous is right, but it's not as hard as many people make it out to be...my lightness probably has alot to do with it as well...140lbs