It all started with the fish when the innovative shapers and board builders out there decided to revisit the past for some inspiration. In doing so they brought back some lost skills such as resin tints and hand foiled fins.The Fish Fry has been a place for these fine craftsmen to showcase their skills. We have seen some amazing boards as shapers have pushed the boundaries over the last few years. As this new look at the fish has evolved to its many forms, it has influenced other shapes and designs along the way.This has spawned a renewed interest in other board forms by this same group and a wider following.Notably the Mini Simmons, Hulls, old school Logs and Pigs. It is pleasing to note that there are an increasing number of people building their own boards as well.All of this is to be applauded and celebrated as a positive for surfing.So it is only natural that these shapers and board builders continue to share their skills with us and include these other shapes at the Fish Fry.It has truly become a melting pot of ideas for like minded people.

Dan's bamboo Simmons




Dan is a great innovative shaper here on the Gold Coast and has been experimenting with his Simmons for a while now. After starting out last year building SUP with bamboo skins and then his short board range , he has now done the Simmons. They are stringerless styrene and look unreal.
Check him out at : www.dmshapes.com

Simmons by Nico and the crew at Wavegliders in Portugal

Rui , sent me these shots of some of the latest boards they have been building.


" After the first simmons Nico kept developing it and using the riders feedback to make small changes on rails, tail, dimensions and fins. All that to make them surf even better. Everybody is loving them."



Nice fins.

If you would like to check out what else they are up to : http://wavegliders.blogspot.com

Chusma Surfboards from North Western Spain

Chus , sent me a link to his blog to check out his boards and share them with you. He builds some nice fish and simmons in his range .




An interesting Simmons with a third fin setup like John Cherry has on his Simmons 21.

The angled tail and distinct concave scoop in the deck at the nose.




Now this is interesting an asymmetric Simmons with keel and quad fins.




Nice to see that the fish and the simmons are a live and well in all far flung parts of the planet and guys like Chus are mixing it up.
Check him out at : http://chusmasurfboards.blogspot.com

Dane goes finless


Always good to see Pro surfers who are willing to try new things rather than white thrusters. Oh sorry I don't mean to get political. But it is good to see.

Fish in the line up








Mike Cunningham took these shots of a couple of Orca or Killer Whales that decided to join them in the waves and bust a few moves for the boys.Big , powerful and just tearing it up at Sandy Bay on the East Coast of the North Island New Zealand.

The 10 foot Simmons for summer...

Full width concave out through the tail with the chine just visible.

S deck and hull entry...

It all flows together pretty nicely...

Chine running on up from the tail and blending into the roll of the bottom and the concave.

Just finished shaping the 10 foot Simmons as my summer experiment. 10ft x 24". Looks good and can't wait for Dan to glass it. Have gone with a rolled entry and a full length concave with a chine in the back 1/3. The fins will sit on top of the chine. So there is quite a bit going on on the underside. Have a nice smooth S deck and it all blends pretty well.I have designed some double foiled cut away bamboo traditional Simmons fins. I have been inspired by what John Cherry has done with his balsa replica Simmons and he has been very helpful with sharing ideas and things that he has learnt from his experience and feedback from riding his board. I wanted to keep as much of the original Simmons outline rocker and fin shapes as possible. But with a tweek of some of what I have learnt with the Mini Simmons I have made.

If you are into recycling and fish then you can't get a better summer project than this.

Mike Sheldrake has been cutting up cardboard and turning it into hollow surfboards.He has experimented with a variety of shapes and details but the 6ft 4" fish is the go.It all comes pre cut , flat packed and you just assemble all the parts. Great looking board. Yes you can surf them and they must be a ton of fun to put together. Great Christmas present as well. You have plenty of time to build one and bring it along to the Fish Fry in March.

Check out Mike at : http://sheldrake.net/cardboards