Any Other Ambidextrous Bait Casters out there?

[snake95]

I started baitcasting last year after growing up with spinning rods.  

Started out with left-handed reels and I feel perfectly comfortable with them.  Yes, I know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

And, I've read the extensive discussions on this forum and elsewhere about choosing LH vs RH, the history and pros/cons of each.

I know there are some fairly strongly held beliefs about why you should choose one over the other, and most would say ultimately, if it feels good and works, go for it.

Of course, ultimately the only way to know for sure what works for you best is to give it a try.  I'm somewhat ambidextrous myself and thinking of giving it a shot.

My question is, how many people routinely throw both LH and RH without skipping a beat when you change?  Is that fairly common?

 

 

 

[Nathan Burton]

I wish I could! 

[buzzed bait]

i can, but i much prefer using left handed reels.  i started out right handed and then once i tried a lefty i didn't want to go back.  i sold off all my RH reels and transitioned over to LH over time.  

the real question is can you effectively cast the rod with both hands?  my answer was no.  i always had to switch the rod over to my other hand after making the cast when using RH reels.

[cbass12]

I can do it without any problems, my cranking reel is actually a righty. I just prefer to use LH. I grew up using whatever my dad had laying around which was mostly right handed reels, but he also had one lefty that I liked to use.

13 minutes ago, buzzed bait said:

the real question is can you effectively cast the rod with both hands?  my answer was no.  i always had to switch the rod over to my other hand after making the cast when using RH reels.

I can do an OK job casting with my left hand, but only if I'm in open water. If I have to be accurate with a cast it's probably not a good idea.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I have and use both configurations but prefer lefties for the most part and always cast right handed. What ever works for you is right. 

[tstraub]

All of my casting reels are right hand retrieve and most of the time I throw with my right and catch with my left just like baseball.  But if I'm covering water with a do OK casting left.  

I have considered trying a lefty but I like to palm the reel rather than hold the rod by the handle so it seems like a lefty would require a double hand switch to palm the reel if casted right.

Tyler

[new2BC4bass]

OP grew up like you. First b/c reels were LH retrieve.  An Alphas ito came up for sale at a decent price....RH retrieve.  Now my reels are about half and half.  Cast with either arm, but overhead LH cast isn't as good as RH and I cast RH when top accuracy is needed.  Side arm roll casts are about the same on either side.  Almost always have both hand reels when practicing, and always have both when out fishing.  Switching from one to the other is no problem.

BTW, I was 61 when I bought my first Low Profile b/c reel.  Had an Ambassadeur 5001C that never got used because I didn't know how to set it up.  That was about 35-40 years ago.  Thankfully we have the Internet now, or I probably wouldn't have bought a second b/c reel as I still didn't know anyone fishing with that type of reel.

[Poolshark]

I use both right handed and left handed bait casters. I prefer lefties mostly. It gives my arms a break after hours of fishing.  I have both styles in my collection that get regular use. 

[georgeyew]

I can reel pretty proficiently with both hands, but I cannot set the hook or work the bait with my non-dominant (left) hand.

[Jaderose]

I don't know about "strongly held beliefs" about one or the other.  Fish with what you like and are comfortable with.  I'm a hand switcher.  I cast right, switch hands...reel right.  Weirdly, I flip and pitch better with my left hand but can't cast worth a darn with it.  I also can't set hooks that well with my right hand even thought I'm RH dominant.  The good thing is...who cares?  They make all kinds of gear to suit just about anyone

[FryDog62]

A couple years ago I had a bone removed from my right wrist, last year I had the same bone removed from my left wrist....  In this process I had to switch off between  left and right handed baitcasting reels.  Forced me to get better each way.

Now I have 2 right-retrieve and 2 left-retrieve b/c reels and I plan to keep it that way.  I think it's good to be versatile, and second it's a good way to limit repetitive motion on one wrist when fishing all day.  

That said I'm better with certain techniques with certain hands.  Jerk baits and flipping I'm much better/stronger with a left-retrieve since the primary strength you use on the rod is my right (dominant) hand.  Crank bait and spinnerbaits rods are right-retrieve. 

Working for me anyways --

[Choporoz]

I grabbed my wife's left handed baitcaster the other day and walked out to the pier and it wasn't pretty.

[FryDog62]

One other note... after my surgeries not only did I have to learn to switch back and forth between left and right handed baitcasters, but also how to use the computer mouse with different hands.  That might have been even more difficult at first but now I have it down pretty good.  

My dad said this is good training some day after my first stroke!  Ha ha he laughed but had a stroke a few years back.  He said he went through lots of physical and occupational therapy and many of the exercises were switching between left and right.  He said mostly its re-training your brain which gets stuck into one way of working with your body.  So, learning how to be versatile now when I'm younger may not be a bad thing.  

Still hope I never have a stroke but maybe learning how to use left and right baitcasters will help some day.  You see fishing IS good therapy!!

[cbass12]

4 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

He said mostly its re-training your brain which gets stuck into one way of working with your body.  So, learning how to be versatile now when I'm younger may not be a bad thing.  
 

Makes me wonder if some things I learned when I was younger have anything to do with this. From a young age my dad taught me to hit both left and right handed, and I did it until my sophomore year of college ball then stuck to left handed. Maybe there's some kind of correlation there.

[Mike L]

Long distance bomb cast or underhanded flip cast's right handed. Flip and/or pitch either one. 

 

 

Mike 

[FryDog62]

6 hours ago, cbass12 said:

Makes me wonder if some things I learned when I was younger have anything to do with this. From a young age my dad taught me to hit both left and right handed, and I did it until my sophomore year of college ball then stuck to left handed. Maybe there's some kind of correlation there.

Funny, my dad tells this story very often and it hurts ...

I grew up with my favorite sport baseball.  He said I had the prettiest left-handed swing he ever saw.  Then two things happened - my second hero in life (after my dad) was Harmon Killebrew and he was a right handed Hall of Fame hitter - and second, I went to grade school and the kids laughed at me for "batting backwards."  So I switched to right handed.  

I played ball through Little League, High School and Community College.  I was known as a very good fielder, strong arm, fast runner... but an average hitter at best.  My dad still wonders to this day had I stayed a left handed hitter...  Who knows maybe would have been able to play Div II or III.  Oh well, that's still not scholarship level - right?  It was fun while it lasted and maybe helped me learn to change sides early on to prepare me for fishing later on 

[snake95]

 

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

He said I had the prettiest left-handed swing he ever saw.  Then two things happened - my second hero in life (after my dad) was Harmon Killebrew and he was a right handed Hall of Fame hitter - and second, I went to grade school and the kids laughed at me for "batting backwards."  So I switched to right handed.  

FryDog, I appreciated your comment.  You got to the heart of my question. I believe that "handedness" is in part a product of how you are taught to handle things.   As with your batting, I'm pretty sure I started out writing (in the 70's) with my left hand but was strongly encouraged to use my right.  So as a fairly new baitcaster, I've been interested in giving "switch casting" a shot, and wanted to gauge if that's unusual.  

I shoot a hockey stick left-handed.  An interesting related piece about this said:

"...a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades.

Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html?_r=0

[Kevin22]

I can cast both right and left handed, but not with great accuracy left handed. I can flip and pitch left handed easily, with great accuracy.