yew! look forward to the future episodes of this series. I got my own fish not too long ago and it would be super helpful to hear how you approach riding a fish.
Cool video! I learned something, thanks. What are your thoughts on putting a tail pad on a fish? It seems very frowned upon in the supposedly open minded surfculture. Why is that? People say that, but I've never heard an actual good argument other than 'because you're not supposed to, that's not how you should surf a fish.' I've added a little fish to my quiver a year ago and I love it, although I sporadically seem to F up because of backfoot slippage, because I don't feel the end of the board, or when trying to do some more drawn out turns. I switch it up with my usual thruster depending on conditions, where I do have a tail pad, so it's like my back foot is often searching for the end of the board. I'm about to slap a pad on it, or convince me otherwise.
what i’ve seemed to realize abt my fish is that it isn’t smthg to be surfed as aggressively as a high perf. shortboard- it’s a board that requires you to sometimes be more in tune with the wave rather than just smashing sections. All this to say it’s a kinda board that is more flow orientated and therefore a tail pad isn’t needed. Plus often times fishes are very nice looking retro boards and it’s kinda a shame to put a tail pad haha a. To each his/her own tho.
Very interesting you point this out! I was in the surf shop the other day buying a grip for my new shortboard and noticed the Machado "Go Fish" grip by Firewire which is shaped for a fish board. My essential answer to your question can at least be partially answered by the video I posted on "Standing Out and Fitting In." It is an aesthetic and cultural decision to use grip on a fish (or any board) or not. Yes, there are practical concerns like slipping off the tail, but some people feel that more retro boards "look funny" with grip, so despite potential performance enhancements from using grip, we stick with the larger cultural norm. It's honestly just an aesthetic norm, so if you want to break it for your own potential performance enhancement, go for it. I personally don't like how it looks on fishes so I keep it off of my mind, obeying the cultural norm. But again, it's just a norm. You can decide to go with it or against it.
@@dablyputs if it makes you feel better I realized I tied it too long two years ago but I've just been lazy. for whatever reason it's been fine, so I have had no impetus to change it. I think maybe I tried once and it was kinda set like that so I didn't bother taking more time with it. Funny enough I take a lot of care of my body but am a little laissez faire when it comes to the equipment. I don't fix dings, for example, unless they're huge gouges. I tend to let little cracks and such just go until there's a larger ding that merits cleaning up the whole board. I never rinse my boards, etc. But I do change the wax 1-2x a year. This may even be lax compared to some people.
@@conatussurf it doesn't make me feel better, it's your board. My favorite board is a fish and I had the string too long but shorter than yours. It was fine while I was in Rockaway. I took it to El Salvador and the tail got destroyed as soon as I got into high swell period waves. I didn't think to check it because it had been fine. I am in love with every surfboard I own right now and I'm not rich ergo I want to hold on to them forever so I'm very particular about taking care of them.
@@dablyputs I’m going to ride a shortboard in those kinds of conditions, so probably will continue to not have issues with my fish. Actually never in my life had a leash string rip through my rails. Surfing since I was toddler, so that’s a pretty great track record. I did hold onto my rail saver with my hand to pull my board through a wave when I was 12. That hurt. Never did that again.
yew! look forward to the future episodes of this series. I got my own fish not too long ago and it would be super helpful to hear how you approach riding a fish.
Stay tuned Leo!
this is awesome
Thank you Shaun!!!
Cool video! I learned something, thanks. What are your thoughts on putting a tail pad on a fish? It seems very frowned upon in the supposedly open minded surfculture. Why is that? People say that, but I've never heard an actual good argument other than 'because you're not supposed to, that's not how you should surf a fish.' I've added a little fish to my quiver a year ago and I love it, although I sporadically seem to F up because of backfoot slippage, because I don't feel the end of the board, or when trying to do some more drawn out turns. I switch it up with my usual thruster depending on conditions, where I do have a tail pad, so it's like my back foot is often searching for the end of the board. I'm about to slap a pad on it, or convince me otherwise.
what i’ve seemed to realize abt my fish is that it isn’t smthg to be surfed as aggressively as a high perf. shortboard- it’s a board that requires you to sometimes be more in tune with the wave rather than just smashing sections. All this to say it’s a kinda board that is more flow orientated and therefore a tail pad isn’t needed. Plus often times fishes are very nice looking retro boards and it’s kinda a shame to put a tail pad haha a. To each his/her own tho.
Very interesting you point this out! I was in the surf shop the other day buying a grip for my new shortboard and noticed the Machado "Go Fish" grip by Firewire which is shaped for a fish board. My essential answer to your question can at least be partially answered by the video I posted on "Standing Out and Fitting In." It is an aesthetic and cultural decision to use grip on a fish (or any board) or not. Yes, there are practical concerns like slipping off the tail, but some people feel that more retro boards "look funny" with grip, so despite potential performance enhancements from using grip, we stick with the larger cultural norm. It's honestly just an aesthetic norm, so if you want to break it for your own potential performance enhancement, go for it. I personally don't like how it looks on fishes so I keep it off of my mind, obeying the cultural norm. But again, it's just a norm. You can decide to go with it or against it.
Do what feels good! I have a pro lite fish pad on my custom Lis style fish and so glad I do. Do not care what anyone says and more about how it feels!
That leash string needs to be shortened so you don't destroy your tail.
Tail is fine. Thanks. Had the board almost 2 years now.
@@conatussurf ok
@@dablyputs if it makes you feel better I realized I tied it too long two years ago but I've just been lazy. for whatever reason it's been fine, so I have had no impetus to change it. I think maybe I tried once and it was kinda set like that so I didn't bother taking more time with it. Funny enough I take a lot of care of my body but am a little laissez faire when it comes to the equipment. I don't fix dings, for example, unless they're huge gouges. I tend to let little cracks and such just go until there's a larger ding that merits cleaning up the whole board. I never rinse my boards, etc. But I do change the wax 1-2x a year. This may even be lax compared to some people.
@@conatussurf it doesn't make me feel better, it's your board. My favorite board is a fish and I had the string too long but shorter than yours. It was fine while I was in Rockaway. I took it to El Salvador and the tail got destroyed as soon as I got into high swell period waves. I didn't think to check it because it had been fine. I am in love with every surfboard I own right now and I'm not rich ergo I want to hold on to them forever so I'm very particular about taking care of them.
@@dablyputs I’m going to ride a shortboard in those kinds of conditions, so probably will continue to not have issues with my fish. Actually never in my life had a leash string rip through my rails. Surfing since I was toddler, so that’s a pretty great track record. I did hold onto my rail saver with my hand to pull my board through a wave when I was 12. That hurt. Never did that again.