Review: Badfish Wave Farmer 4’10”
Summary: The Badfish Wave Farmer is a great combination of high performance and ease of use. It has been one of my favorite boards to surf on the biggest and fastest shortboard waves. Continue reading for the full review…
Badfish has found a way to create a forgiving yet high performance shortboard for the river. The Wave Farmer is incredibly fun to surf on quality shortboard river waves. It pumps super well, turns great, and is one of the easiest boards to spin and surf backwards. I’ve learned more tricks on this board than any other board I’ve surfed.
I’ve found the Wave Farmer really shines on the biggest and steepest river waves (aka some of the more difficult waves to surf). Washington’s Citywave (on its advanced and highest settings) and Salida’s Scout wave (during the 2 days of maxing out high water in 2024) is where I found myself grabbing the Wave Farmer over all the other boards in my quiver. The thicker rail helps the board stick to the face of the wave, the extra tail rocker makes for easier turns and allows you to slow down the board when you need it, and the volume provides a stable platform if you have to deal with foam on the face of the wave.
While the Wave Farmer is excellent when the wave is near perfection, it tends to be a little slow when the waves aren’t as steep. Scout when it’s not steep, RRP wave Sixx, and Pueblo’s Spillway wave are some examples of when the Wave Farmer feels a bit too slow and I tend to surf other boards.
The Wave Farmer is great for anyone who is at least at an intermediate level skill level of river surfing. For beginners, I’d recommend a more durable board like the Catch Surf Stump, or the Badfish Bombdrop. For river surfers with solid control that aren’t sending their boards into the wall or rocks, the Wave Farmer is a good choice. For more advanced river surfers, the Wave Farmer makes a great platform for learning tricks.
If you’re considering the Wave Farmer, you’ll probably want to take a look at a few other boards as well. The Corridor Craw isn’t as forgiving as the Wave Farmer, but is much faster and worth a look if you’re surfing flatter waves or are more into carving than tricks. The Lib Tech Hydro Snapper can’t surf big steep waves, but it can surf small waves that are too flat and slow for the Wave Farmer… and it comes in the durable Lib Tech construction. The Peterson Tomahawk is a good choice if you’re an advanced or expert river surfer and are willing to give up ease of use for higher performance. However if you’re looking for something that’s user friendly and helps boost your confidence when surfing difficult waves or learning new techniques, the Wave Farmer is the best choice out of these boards.
As long as the wave is steep enough, it’s hard to go wrong with the Wave Farmer. And when the waves are at their best, it is my go-to board.