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Reviews
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Date of last review
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3
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56897
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Fri June 9, 2006
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$429.50
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4.3
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Description:
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| Board Specifications: | | Length: | 133 cm |
| Mid Width: | | | Tip width: | | | Rocker height: | | | Rocker type: | | | Stance options: | | | Fin configuration: | | | Skill level: | | | Construction: | | | MSRP: | |
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Keywords:
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Liquid Force Fish
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Pat McCarthy
Registered: January 2003
Posts: 3223
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Review Date: Wed October 13, 2004
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Great pop, very responsive
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Cons:
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A little loose when riding flat
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One of the hottest products for 2005 is the Liquid Force Fish wakeboard. It's a similar idea to the Liquid Force Squirt that came out years ago, but is definitely an improved design. So how does it ride?
Size
The 2005 Liquid Force Fish comes in three sizes, a 125 cm, a 129 cm, and a 133 cm. For this test we rode the 133 cm version, so we'll speak specifically to it's dimensions. The Fish is a board that is designed to be rode at a length about 10 cm shorter than your normal wakeboard. Since I normally ride a 142-144 cm board, the 133 cm was the right board choice for me.
The Fish makes up for it's lack of length in width. The 133 cm is a huge 46.3 cm wide which translates to 18.1 inches. It's got 2.4 inches of rocker which is pretty sizeable for a short board.
Shape
The Fish is short and fat. What's the point? Well, the short length provides for a board that is easier to spin and rotate through the air with less swing weight. It's also quicker to control and more responsive. To make up for the short length, the width provides for a huge amount of pop and surface area to land on.
The downside of the width usually is a hard landing. To combat this, the Fish has a big double V concave hull which breaks the water on the landings, and provides for very quick edge to edge response.
The edges are rounded to a sharp point, which adds to the board's responsiveness.
The Fish has two molded-in fins on the edges, and then has two removeable fins on the interior at each end. We tested the board without the interior fins on it, meaning it was a bit more loose for our ride.
Graphics
I'm partial to boards with a white background color, so I was naturally drawn to the graphics on the Fish. The art on it is tribal in nature, and I think the green and blue colors work well for a board called "Fish".
The bottom graphic is mainly black with similar tribal graphics, so the board has a nice consistent theme.
The Ride
The Fish is a ton of fun. The board is very responsive and definitely does not feel as short as it really is.
The pop is tremendous, and the concave V hull does do a nice job of softening up the landings.
The one thing to note is that after cutting out wide the board is pretty loose in the water, and if you edge in toeside without getting it on edge it will feel a bit out of control and loose. I was riding it without the optional interior fins which would obviously give it better tracking. However, the looseness problem was solved as soon as you crank into that edge, because it really holds well.
The Bottom Line
The Fish is a great board. It probably is not suited or necessary for beginners, but is something that intermediate and up riders should definitely try. Some people have said it's ride is different enough so that it would be a second board that you could get to ride, but I think it's good enough that it could definitely be your primary board.
You'll get great pop and a ton of response, and the negatives normally associated with a short length are solved well with the design.
You can see the entire Liquid Force team ripping on the Fish in their new team video Relentless as well.
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Willy
Registered: February 2004
Posts: 159
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Review Date: Sun July 31, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $600.00
| Rating: 3
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I got a chance to try one out last week. True, they help with anything to do with rotation. I also found that anything toe-side (wake jumps and landing) is a lot easier.
On the other hand, I found the board lacked pop and quickness in edging (it took long before the fins locked). I also tried it finless - took forever to go edge to edge, but definitely very rideable.
I would say, this: Short fat boards are the future of wakeboarding. BUT don't throw away your old conventional board yet, because the technology simply isn't there yet. For now the FISH could be a good second board to have.
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Willy
Registered: February 2004
Posts: 159
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Review Date: Fri June 9, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $259.00
| Rating: 5
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*** UPDATED REVIEW ***
When I posted my review last year, I only had tried the board a few times. I complained about lack of pop, only to realize later that I had not given Myself enough time to learn to ride this one properly.
After playing with it much longer now, I can say it is one fantastic board. It took me a little while to figure out how to get the pop out of that thing, but once I did, WOW what an amazing pop (you really do need to be sitting lower or edging harder cause due to its with, you can lose your edge easily before you get to the top of the wake).
The FISH also has very soft landings, which was welcome since I was really starting to mess my knees up with my other board (ERA 143). I'm now going bigger than ever without any apprehension for hard landings!
The FISH has now graduated to be my primary board. I also need to fight with one of my riding buddies to stop begging for a ride on it every day.
True what they say about the short nose which can result in eating it, but it's not hard to get used to landing a bit more towards the back.
The FISH dope.
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