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Looking for the Best Fish style surfboards?
Fish surfboards have been a staple of surfing culture for around fifty years, but their popularity has recently surged, drawing interest from both beginners and seasoned surfers alike.
If you’re new to fish surfboards, you may be wondering how to choose the right board that matches your skill level, riding style, and the type of waves you want to conquer.
There are many shapes to choose from, such as the retro fish and the hybrid fish. Then you've got to decide between quad or the more classical style of twin fin set-up.
Oh, and do you want a soft or hard top? The decision is yours.
Here are some of our favorite fish style boards.
What Makes This Board Stand Out:
“Hands down the best soft surfboards ever!” – Jamie O’Brien
The Skipper Quad X Jamie O’Brien Pro is a soft-top surfboard built to make catching waves easier and paddling out less tiring. Its buoyant, user-friendly design adapts well to a variety of wave conditions, making it ideal for surfers of all levels.
The latest Skipper Quad Fin model features Catch Surf’s innovative fin system, providing extra drive and speed right when you need it, so every turn and carve feels effortless.
Durable, forgiving, and endlessly fun, this board lets anyone shred waves confidently, even without professional skills. With the Skipper Quad X, every surf session is a chance to ride with excitement and style!
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What Makes This Board Stand Out:
Paragon offers retro-inspired fish surfboards in three sizes, from 5′10″ to 6′5″, making them a great fit for both adult and teen surfers.
These boards feature a shallow swallowtail and a subtly rounded outline, giving them a hybrid feel rather than a traditional fish shape. The design leans toward shortboard-like performance, combining speed with maneuverability for a versatile ride.
Constructed with either a PU or epoxy core and fully glassed, each board comes equipped with twin Futures fins. Unlike soft-tops, these boards are built for experienced surfers ready to handle the occasional wipeout.
The slightly pulled-in tail paired with the hybrid outline strikes the perfect balance of shortboard control and classic fish glide, delivering both speed and precision.
For surfers seeking a dependable, high-performance daily driver that elevates fish-style riding, a Paragon retro fish is an outstanding choice.
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What Makes This Board Stand Out:
The Catch Surf board is a versatile option for surfers of all ages and skill levels. Its slightly chunky build makes it a standout in the quad-fin soft-top category, delivering stability and adaptability across a range of wave conditions.
With a retro-inspired shape featuring a wide tail, full nose, and low rocker, the board pairs classic style with modern performance. The quad-fin setup enhances control and responsiveness, giving surfers confidence even in less-than-perfect surf.
Built with a dual composite core, including an HDPE base and twin stringers, this board balances durability with rigidity. Unlike some softer boards that flex excessively, it maintains excellent stiffness, especially beneficial for heavier riders.
Thoughtful tail and rail design allow the Catch Surf to excel in smaller waves, outperforming slimmer hybrid boards that might struggle in similar conditions. Overall, it’s a fun, dependable soft-top that combines stability, control, and classic style for an enjoyable ride on the water.
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#4. Formula Fun Fish
What Makes This Board Stand Out:
This USA-made fish board is crafted entirely from 100% recycled materials, making it an eco-conscious choice without compromising performance. Built as a single copolymer unit, it features a textured EVA deck and molded stringers for added strength and rigidity. While it doesn’t have a fiberglass bottom, the board still glides smoothly, picks up speed effortlessly, and handles a variety of wave conditions.
The Formula Fun comes with Futures twin fins, providing reliable control and responsiveness. Though the twin-fin setup offers fewer customization options than a quad, the board’s durable construction and high-quality materials more than make up for it.
Designed to withstand minor dings and scratches, this board remains sturdy and rideable, letting you enjoy every surf session without worry. Compact yet robust, it comfortably supports riders up to around 200 lbs, though taller surfers, especially those over 6 feet, may prefer a longer board for extra stability.
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What Makes This Board Stand Out:
The South Bay Board Company touts this as their favorite hybrid surfboard design, and for good reason. Choosing one of the larger sizes adds extra volume, slightly reducing responsiveness compared to lighter fish boards, but making it ideal for beginners. It strikes a perfect balance between stability and maneuverability, giving new surfers confidence while remaining easy to handle.
Construction is top-notch. The EPS core, reinforced I-Beam stringer, and heat-release valve make the board both durable and low-maintenance, even in hot conditions. The textured deck eliminates the need for waxing, while the glassed bottom with optional wood veneer adds a sleek, high-end aesthetic.
A quad-fin setup provides excellent control and performance, though riders can easily switch to a twin-fin configuration if desired. The board is clearly designed to perform best with all four fins installed, delivering stability, responsiveness, and a smooth ride across a variety of waves.
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What Makes This Board Stand Out:
This board offers a volume similar to the Wave Bandit Retro Fish, but much of it is distributed along the rails. This provides extra stability, though fully engaging the rails can feel a bit trickier. For most riders, this isn’t a concern, fish boards are rarely pushed hard on the rails.
Construction is solid and durable. Built with an EPS core and three marine-ply stringers, the board weighs 9.2 lbs, not the lightest, but exceptionally strong. The soft-top is reinforced with a 5mm barrier layer for added protection against dings and impacts, keeping the core safe even if the surface gets dented or scratched. The HDPE-coated base enhances durability while providing a smooth, reliable glide across the water.
The board comes with bolt-through fin boxes and a complete set of fins, allowing either a twin or quad-fin setup. Both configurations perform well, though the quad setup typically delivers greater stability and improved performance, especially for taller or heavier riders.
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Should You Choose a Fish Surfboard?
Fish surfboards make it easy to catch waves and are great for generating speed even when the waves are small. They're loose into turns, and allow surfers to slide out the fins, drawing a very different line to what you would achieve if you were using a bigger surfboard with a more normal shape.
However, the fish shape doesn't typically work so well if the waves are bigger. The shape that is an asset in weaker surf becomes the enemy when the waves are bigger and mean the board tends to skip or slide as the surf becomes steep. Many avid surfers carry multiple boards.
A narrow, more performance-focused board, and tri or quad fin set for days when a bigger board is needed, and a fish for the flatter days.
If you're a beginner or someone who tends to see only smaller waves, a hybrid or a fish design could help you get out there on those days when people with big boards wouldn't even waste the energy to paddle out. In the right conditions, fish can be a lot of fun.
If you're a newer surfer, look for something like the SBBC Mahi 6 footer if you're an adult or a taller than average teen, or something smaller like the Wave Bandit for a teen or a child.
If you're an experienced surfer, Paragon has a lot to offer in terms of performance and flexibility, making it a strong pick in this category, although it's a little bit less beginner-friendly.
Bruce Paulson is the owner of PaddleboardSurf and an avid water sports enthusiast with a lifelong passion for all things aquatic. From stand-up paddleboarding and surfing to boating, kayaking, and canoeing, he thrives on the joy of being on the water. As an advocate for water conservation and environmental stewardship, Bruce shares his adventures and insights through his writing, inspiring others to embrace the beauty and excitement of life on the water.