Stoked to talk about one of the most beloved and misunderstood boards in the quiver: the fish. You see ’em in every lineup, from mushy beach breaks to cranking reef passes, and they still get sideways glances from the “performance only” crew. But the fish ain’t just a retro novelty or a crutch for old dudes. It’s a design that changed the game, and it might just be the missing puzzle piece for your own wave-riding flow.
Back in 1967, a San Diego shaper named Steve Lis was tinkering with a kneeboard design. He wanted something that would paddle easy, catch waves early, and still hold its line when the surf got steep and hollow. What he came up with was short and stubby, with a wide swallow tail, a flat-ish rocker, and a pair of fins set well back from the nose. That first “fish” was a revelation. It wasn’t a shortboard and it wasn’t a longboard. It was something else entirely, something that rode with a looseness and speed that nobody had felt before.
The magic of the fish lives in its volume distribution. The wide point sits right around your chest, pushing float right under your front foot. That means you can paddle into waves that a standard shortboard would stall on, and you can get to your feet a full beat earlier. The swallow tail, meanwhile, acts like two little hulls that release water in a way that reduces drag. When you drop in and set that inside rail, the board just goes. It’s like it’s got its own jet stream running beneath it. The twin fin setup adds another layer of mayhem and grace. Without the center fin, the board slides and pivots with a skatier, more fluid energy. You can shift your weight off the tail and whip through a top turn that feels barreled from the inside out.
But here’s the kicker: the fish isn’t a one-trick pony. On a good one, you can generate speed where a thruster would just bog down. That flat rocker, combined with the wide tail, lets you pump through flat sections that have no business giving you anything. You find yourself gliding over dead water that would normally chop your momentum into bits. And when the wave does jack up? Don’t sleep on the fish. Modern fish designs have a little more rocker than the originals, and they can handle a hollow wave with a surprising amount of grip. You’re not going to be doing air reverses like a grom in a WSL heat, but you’ll be pulling into barrels with a smile that just won’t quit.
Now, there are different breeds of fish out there. You got your retro keel fins, which are big and thick, giving you tons of drive and a more classic, old-school feel. Then you got your modern twin fins, smaller and more upright, offering quicker pivots and a livelier response. Some fishes have a slight swallow belly, others are nearly flat. Some have a single fin option or even a quad setup. The shape has evolved, but the soul remains the same: make small waves fun, make average waves excellent, and make you feel like a hero on a day that would otherwise be a blown-out windswell washout.
Let’s talk practicalities. If you’re an intermediate surfer looking to expand your range, a fish should be high on your radar. It forgives mistakes. It rewards lazy paddling with early entries. It turns slop into playground. For the advanced shredder? A fish is still a weapon for those knee-to-waist-high days when the shortboard feels like a rock. You’ll wonder why you ever struggled to generate speed on a groveler when this little boat is doing all the work for you.
The key to riding a fish is to unlearn some of your habits. Don’t try to bury the rail like you would on a thruster. Instead, stay more centered, weight over your front foot on the takeoff, and let the board do its thing. When you feel the tail let go, don’t fight it—lean in and trust the twin fins to catch you on the other side. The pivot point is further back than you’re used to, so your turns come from a different part of your body. Once you get that dialed, the stoke is real. You’ll be looking for tiny little ankle-biters just to feel that effortless glide.
If you’re at the board shop with your hard-earned cash in hand, give the fish a fair shot. Look at the thickness, the tail width, the fin options. A good fish should feel like a skateboard under your arm, light and nimble. The glass job matters too—you want fiberglass that has some flex, not one of those epoxy tanks unless you’re specifically after durability. And don’t forget to ask your local shaper; they’ll often have a fish template they’ve refined over years, tuned to your local waves.
The fish has been around for over half a century, and it’s not going anywhere. It’s a shape that keeps redefining itself, adapting to the times but never losing its core identity: pure, simple, stoke. So next time the surf report is looking flat, grab a fish. You might just find your new favorite ride.
