TackleTour

I am considering buying a left handed reel even though I am right handed. Are there any of you that are right handed using left hand reels to keep from moving the rod into the left hand after the cast? And if so how long did it take you to become good at it?

I switched to Lefties after only using righties for 30 years. I have several lefties and a couple righties still which I'll keep some righties since its nice to switch off on those long days with fatigue.

Sure it felt odd as hell setting the hook, reeling the fish in at first. But I just fished with that reel for a few outings only and became comfortable with it. Now the lefties feel totally 100% natural and I love not switching hands, especially when it comes to pitchin.

I think too many give up on using a lefty within the first small window of time due to it feeling so foreign. They don't give it an honest go. Those that put the time in and preserver wish they would of done it years ago

I like being ambidextrous and being able to use either. As I mentioned it really helps to lesson fatigue being able to switch off which side I'm holding the rod in.

i am a natural righty but, when i got into baitcasters, the woman at the tackle box recommended lefty since i had fished spinning reels that way all of my life. it felt 100% comfortable from the very beginning. the side benefit was not having to switch hands when pitching, flipping and, especially when punching.

i bought a right handed reel at one time just to see. i couldn't do it. reeling was fine but my left side was too weak and uncoordinated to control the rod when i hooked into a fish. still, i'll probably pick up another righty soon to give my right side a rest. my right shoulder has been bothering me more and more lately.

Like "froteur" I grew up cranking spinning reels with the left hand, so left hand baitcasting reels presented no problem. Right hand reels had to be learned, but it didn't take all that long. Good thing, too, because now I don't have to pass up any good reel deals because they are the wrong hand. There is no "wrong hand".

Easy switch and once u switch u'll never look back. Hahahaha.

I don't care what anyone says, anything that you can do with your non dominant hand, can be done better with your dominant hand. It's just the way your brain is wired, whether it's nature or nurture. Your functions better on one side.
Accuracy, power and coordination are going to be better with you dominant hand. Who cares about turning a handle. I want to cast, flip, pitch, thumb spool, feel line, set, control, swing, and repeat with my dominant hand. It's wired a little bit better to your brain than the other.

I use lefty retrieve reels as well. Plus I get a much better hook set using my stronger dominant arm to control the rod

All lefty retrieve for me. I'm right handed, so I cast right handed, and I can control the rod much better with my right. Trying to walk a top water with my left hand is horrible, i simply dont have the coordination to do so. Whereas turning the handle with my left hand doesnt require much coordination. If i was fighting a 150lbs tarpon or something where cranking power is more important than finessing a lures action, right hand retrieve would be my choice for more power.

froteur wrote:i am a natural righty but, when i got into baitcasters, the woman at the tackle box recommended lefty since i had fished spinning reels that way all of my life. it felt 100% comfortable from the very beginning. the side benefit was not having to switch hands when pitching, flipping and, especially when punching.

As with froteur, I also grew up using spinning reels with my left hand. When I made the move to using baitcasters it only seemed natural to use a baitcaster with my left hand. I also tried using a right handed baitcaster and I wonder why anyone would want to fish that way... it was so awkward, at least for me.

I started using right hand reels 20 years ago. About the time when I really got into flipping and pitching, I started thinking about all the extra motion required and time wasted switching hands. I bought me a cheap left hand reel to try first, it was really awkward at first, but within a couple of weeks I was really comfortable with it. I have been using lefties for about 5 years now, and would never look back. It kills me watching all these "pros" on tv switching hands constantly, wasting all that time. It is not that hard to learn, and will make you a much more efficient angler in my opinion.

Like froteur and stykbowslim I fished spinning reels for a few years before adding baitcasters to the mix so casting with my right hand and reeling with my left came naturally.

I am one of the lucky ones, left handed so a right handed reel works the best for me and to this day I don't understand why all my right handed fishin buds are still using right handed reels. Probably would have started off using left hand reels myself but 40 years ago when I bought my first baitcaster there was no such animal in the stores. I have had to pretty much adapt to a right hand world as far as tools and sporting equipment go, but for reels it has worked out to my advantage.

I grew up using LH spinning and RH casting reels. Several years back, I started making the switch. Now, I'm "mostly" LH but still haven't made the transition complete. I can use both RH and LH casting reels for most any technique, but I still much prefer RH reels for "walk the dog" techniques as i've found it the most difficult to master casting LH. There are still some moving bait applications where a RH reel still feels at home as well, but the comfort level with lefties is now at a point that my preference is to go lefty.

Oddly enough, pitching/flipping/casting jigs and plastics was the primary reason I made the switch and it took the most work to become comfortable doing. I missed quite a few fish in the early days after making the switch due to the awkwardness of the new feeling, but now it's second nature. I can hardly stand fish a RH reel with a jig or worm anymore...

i too have been pondering this topic lately. to answer your question, no i only use RH casting reels. i grew up fishing and first learned to cast a spinning reel with the handle on the left side, holding and casting with my right hand. i learned to use a RH baitcaster in my backyard by practicing casts into the pool. i also practiced flippin n pitchin into a 5 gallon bucket.

however, i do feel that there is some seriously goofy terminology at work here. let me explain:

when a person is right handed, he or she does things best with said hand. whether using a phone, changing the channel with the remote, using scissors, throwing a ball, turning a wrench, etc., this right handed person clearly does things better with the right hand as opposed to the left. and vise versa for lefties.

why then is a right handed reel held in the left hand? it does seem inverted, if you are right handed all your life, why is it considered natural to use a right handed casting reel (handle on the right) in the left hand?

casting, flipping, pitching, walking the dog, fighting a fish, etc should all be done with your dominant hand and arm. ergo a truly right handed reel should have the handle on the left side, allowing you to cast, twitch, hook-set, and fight fish with your most coordinated side, your right side. a lefty reel should be held in your left hand, retrieved with your right.

that being said, i am exceptionally coordinated with what are called RH casting reels. but occasionally you would see me have something that looks like a conniption fit when im worm fishing and try to set the hook. perhaps i should try a lefty....

Like several on here, I started using baitcasters after using spinning tackle. For me, it was natural to cast right, retrieve left.