Empire Ave Guides
Our Guide to the Best Fish 
Surfboards
Defining what a fish surfboard is can get a little tricky. A lot of people think a fish is basically a twin fin with a swallow tail. They’re correct, of course, but they’ve only talked about the cake and not the icing. There are fishes with bat tails, diamond tails, and round tails. There are fish surfboards with two fins, three fins, four fins and one fin. Some have channels on the bottom, some don’t. Most are built to be fun in small waves. Some can also go great in larger surf. Fish surfboards are a little like porn and art really – you know them when you see them.
To help guide you in a bit in which fish is best for you, here’s a run down of some of what we think are the radder options around right now.
Best Twin Fin Fish Surfboards
The vast majority of fish surfboards around right now are twin fins with swallowtails. In case you don’t know what that means, it means they have two fins (sometimes a smaller trailer fin in the middle). Mark Richards makes some absolutely classic ones twin fins, as do plenty of other labels. Here are three we’ve either ridden, or a wildly excited to give a whirl, in the case of Mikey Feb x Channel Islands new release.
TWIN FIN FISHES
Album Twinsman
Still one of the best twin fin surfboard designs getting around, The Album Twinsman goes in a huge variety of waves and lets you shred with the best of them. It has a flyer at the back, plenty of volume under your chest for paddling, and has the uptake speed of a suped up go-cart. One we reviewed a while back here.
TWIN FIN FISHES
DHD Mini Twin II (Summer Series)
A great fish surfboard for intermediate to expert surfers, this number is wider in the nose and has a cheeky channel bottom for some extra flare. One of those boards you have in the rack when the surf gets sloppy and motivates you to get out there. Plenty of fun colour sprays too, for those who like a little pop.
TWIN FIN FISHES
Channel Islands Feb's Fish
Mikey February is easily one of our favourite surfers to watch at the moment, especially riding fish surfboards. The guy’s lines are absolute butter. He’s recently teamed up with Channel Islands to create Feb’s Fish, a twinny that goes for him in grovelly waves and threading point pits. It looks insane.
Best Fish Surfboards - Non-Twin Fins
Fish surfboards can definitely have more (or less) than two fins. Serious case in point – The Tommy Peterson Fireball that Tom Curren rode at huge Bawa, to respark the fish revolution, was a thruster. Matt Biolis’s 5’5’’ x 19 ¼’’ was also a thruster and that basically kicked off the career of one of surfboard shaping’s all-time greats. Here are three we think are fire.
NON-TWIN FIN FISHES
JS Flame Fish
Your super groveler! The JS Flame Fish Surfboard looks a bit like a bar of soap and a performance board had a lovechild. Designed especially for tiny, tiny waves without any punch, it’s one for summer when you want to get a zap in your snaps. You can ride it as a twinny, thruster, or quad, so there are plenty of options depending on what you love most.
NON-TWIN FIN FISHES
…Lost RNF
Based on the template that helped kick off the 5’5’’ x 19 ¼’’ Mayhem in the 90s. The …Lost RNF has been refined a bit since then and is, as you would expect, a small wave weapon of the highest order. This thing is like having a piece of rideable history in your quiver. You can surf it as a thruster, a twin with a stabilizer, or as a Catch Surf soft top!
NON-TWIN FIN FISHES
El Tomo Fish
From the wild shaping mind that bought the world Slater Designs’ Sci-Fi and Cymatic, this one pulls out all the stops. Since Fish surfboards are all about experimentation, we had to put the El Tomo Fish in. A double diamond tip swallow tail, it has a dedicated quad set up for extra drive and versatility. Pair up with these Gandalf Fingers if you want to get extra freaky.
Bigger Fish Surfboards (aka Mid-Lengths)
So Mid Length surfboards have taken the surfing world by storm over the last decade. If you’re interested, there’s a full Mid Length guide here. But, not all Mid Lengths are especially ‘fishy’. Considering this is more about fish surfboards, we’ve picked designs with an outline to suit, that can go in smaller or larger waves.
BIGGER FISHES
Christenson Long Phish II
The update on one of the OG mid lengths that got everyone singing their praises. This Long Phish 2.0 has been refined using feedback from style lord Beau Cram and goes in 1ft to 10ft. There’s plenty of volume to help you paddle in, and the twin fin set up helps keep things loose for you to throw it around. Will go in lefts! (if you’re Beau Cram). Review is here.
BIGGER FISHES
Your Local Shaper
With some of the bigger surfboard makers out there taking a whole lot of market share, there’s something to be said for hitting your local guru for something a bit different. These guys and girls love experimenting, refining ideas and bringing to life designs outside the normal. Hunt them out, have a chat and see what kind of fish surfboard you can dream up together. Keep it fun!
What size fish surfboard should you get?
People often get confused about how long they should go for a fish surfboard. It all depends on the model. Most shapers these days will mention in their product descriptions how many inches shorter or longer you should go in comparison to your normal shortboard. If you’re after something in smaller waves, we’d personally start at 2 inches below your go-to surfboard and reduce down if it’s especially buoyant. For mid-length surfboards, you’re wanting at least 4’’+ over your normal shortboard. If in doubt, ask the shaper specifically. They’ll guide you in the right direction.
