Here is a trailer for a great looking film called Fish by Joseph Ryan. Outlining the original concepts and some of the legends that helped to bring the fish surfboard to the mainstream including Steve Lis, who is more or less the father of the twin keel fish.
The impact of the fish surfboards, which was born around 30 years ago, is massive. Originally designed for knee-boarding, it didn’t take long until someone needed to stand up on it. At that time, it was a pivotal point in bringing more performance to surfboards. The fish can pretty much do it all, the deep swallow tail loves the barrel, the wider outline flies down the line and past sections, it holds on rail, pivots off tail and can be taken above the lip with ease.
Most shapers or brands have a least one fish style surfboard in their range, and there are endless variations on the original concept, making it such a versatile shape to form a foundation around.
The trailer also shows the importance of riding boards suited to your conditions and abilities…not everyone can rip on a paper thin and narrow high performance shortboard, open your eyes and get on a board that’ll float and perform in the waves you are riding.
Below is a list of boards influenced almost directly by the Fish:
Album Surfboards:
Wildnerness
Balance
Riot
Canvas Surfboards:
Bliss Fish
Yoshi
Hot Tub
Carrozza Surfboards:
Magic Fish
Chemistry Surfboards:
Wide 6
DHD Surfboards:
Twin Fin
Haydenshapes Surfboards:
Hypto Krypto
Nation Surfboards:
Los Dos
Panda Surfboards:
The Twinky
Stamps Surfboards:
Quantum Quad Fish
Vampirate Surfboards:
The Inflatable Blowup Mattress
Evil Twin
Gravedigger
Share your thoughts and experiences about the Fish Surfboard in the comments below…