Which hand retrieve ?

[jr231]

I know it's all about what you are comfortable with.. but I just don't see how someone who's right handed would want to reel with the right hand..  

 

I'm right handed and have always wanted the rod in my dominant hand while reeling with my "off-hand". I feel like I have better feel and more accurate casting... Kind of like throwing a ball, how many of you are "right handed" but would prefer to throw a ball with your left hand.. 

 

Just a little odd to me and I seem to be seeing it alot.. 

[ThatFishin'Guy]

I cast with my right and reel with my right. I switch up hands while the lure is still in the air. Why do I do this? No clue really,  I imagine this is how I first started casting and it's stuck with me since. I've tried using left hand reels but I just can't get the hang of it

[Nor-Cal Basser]

It's all preference. I'm right handed, but I use left handed reels exclusively. The only problem I have encountered doing this is that certain companies don't make all of their gear ratios available in a left hand format. Lews is a good example of this.

[12poundbass]

3 minutes ago, ThatFishin'Guy said:

I cast with my right and reel with my right. I switch up hands while the lure is still in the air. Why do I do this? No clue really,  I imagine this is how I first started casting and it's stuck with me since. I've tried using left hand reels but I just can't get the hang of it

Your way of casting is pretty normal, and how most are taught.  I am left handed but use right handed reels, that's how I was taught. All of the sports I do right handed that's just how I was tought, and to be quite honest the world isn't really set up for left handed people but we adapt. It is all about preference, but I think I have a slight advantage when using a right handed baitcaster, my hands are in constant contact with the rod and reel. I agree that I prefer to have my dominate hand on the rod. But it's all about comfort.

[roadwarrior]

Written by George Welcome

 

Let's get technical, as there are in fact reasons, not just some lame holdover from days past that put the handles where they are.

What will move the fish during retrieval is placed to the strong hand!

A baitcast is designed to be used as a winch, so it is the reel that retrieves the fish. Hence if you are right handed the handle is in your right hand.

A spinning reel is designed to pick up unloaded or loose line, not retrieve the fish. Hence it is the rod that does the retrieval, so it is the rod that is in your strong hand. If you are right handed then the pole goes to the right hand.

 

[jr231]

Interesting.... I use "left hand" combos (reeling with my left) on both spinning and casting...My left hand (and arm ) is plenty strong, more than strong enough to bring in any bass on this earth . just not as cordinated. Which is why I want the rod in my dominant hand for casting accuracy.  I think switching hands would be annoying . But if it's what you're used to it probably doesn't seem like a chore at all 

[new2BC4bass]

Topic comes up all the time.  Learn to use both hands.  Take advantage of ALL the reel (real?) deals.

[jr231]

I don't see much advantage in learning to use both hands.. I'm perfectly comfortable fishing the way I do and have never once thought to myself "man I really could make a better cast if I could use the other hand" 

 

 

[Mike L]

Cast right, reel right and pitch left. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[jr231]

17 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Cast right, reel right and pitch left. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

So you do the switch.. and why pitch left ? Assuming you're right handed. 

[chattooga_ basser]

 

23 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

 

I don't see much advantage in learning to use both

 

 I would have agreed with you until last year,but if your fishing from the back of the boat in a tournament or say around a pond with lots of trees it's nice to switch hands and create an angle for yourself. Lefty casting practice also keeps me entertained this time of year when I can't fish much.

[new2BC4bass]

2 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

I don't see much advantage in learning to use both hands.. I'm perfectly comfortable fishing the way I do and have never once thought to myself "man I really could make a better cast if I could use the other hand" 

 

 

 

To each his own.  I actually enjoy switching.  It isn't about making a better cast if you could use the other hand.  Well...in my case it sometimes is because I can make a roll cast better with the left hand than a backcast with the right.  (Not enough practice!)  Also sometimes the rod arm can get tired...such as when cranking a spinnerbait over tops of weeds.  Especially with Colorado blades.  Switching gives that arm a break.  But I am an old guy that hasn't worked out in years so that probably doesn't bother a young guy like you. 

 

Another benefit of using either hand is some reels only come with RH retrieve.  Sometimes I buy RH retrieve because the reel is at a great price.  That is what got me started using my right hand for retrieving.  A nice Alphais ito Ai came up for sale a few years ago, and I figured if I wanted one I'd better jump on it.  Figured since I had a RH reel I might as well learn to cast LH.  No regrets for learning to use both hands for reeling or for casting.

 

EDIT:  I fish out of the front in a 14 foot dingy when visiting Florida.  I often cast with the LH to avoid snagging my brother-in-law.

[ww2farmer]

I learned to fish with a spinning rod/reel combo that you held in your right hand and cranked with your left. When I got my first couple of baitcasting reels RH reels felt "odd" to me so I sought out LH reels, which even in the 80's was not that hard to find. My first couple of casting reels were the old black/grey graphite framed Shimano reels and a round LH Abu Garcia...........I have used LH reels ever since. The few times over the years that I pick up a RH reel it just feels odd and unnatural to me, and I quickly put it down.

[12poundbass]

58 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

So you do the switch.. and why pitch left ? Assuming you're right handed. 

Pitch with the opposite hand so you're not switching. If you switch while you're making long casts you have time to switch. If you're pitching there's little to no time to switch before the bait is wet.

51 minutes ago, chattooga_ basser said:

 

 I would have agreed with you until last year,but if your fishing from the back of the boat in a tournament or say around a pond with lots of trees it's nice to switch hands and create an angle for yourself. Lefty casting practice also keeps me entertained this time of year when I can't fish much.

I totally agree! This is something I need to work on in the off season. I'm left handed, use RH reels, and always cast from my left side. To be a more efficient and accurate caster I need to work on making casts from my right side too. There are too many times where I make a bad cast because I'm casting from my left side when I should be from my right side. 

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, Mike L said:

Cast right, reel right and pitch left. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

1 hour ago, Yeajray231 said:

So you do the switch.. and why pitch left ? Assuming you're right handed. 

 

28 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Pitch with the opposite hand so you're not switching. If you switch while you're making long casts you have time to switch. If you're pitching there's little to no time to switch before the bait is wet.

 

 

Answered better than I could...Thanks

 

 

 

Mike

[fishnkamp]

I am right handed. I use both right and left hand reels for some strategic reasons. If I am throwing a bait that I cast and retrieve by cranking then I will use a right hand reel. I cast, change hand on the rod and wind in with my right hand. These baits include spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, crankbaits, and rattle traps.

Lures that I toss and retrieve with a pumping, dragging or hopping motion I prefer to use a left hand retrieve reel. So any texas rigs, jigs, carolina rigs, spoons or blade baits and definitely anything I flip, pitch or punch I prefer to have my dominant hand on the rod at all times. I think I am in a better position to strike if it gets a quick hit as well.

The last reason to switch hands for me has to do with my career. I have been a mechanic for over 30 years and my hands can cramp up if I perform repetitive tasks for too long, so by switching to a different bait & style of fishing thus changing hands a long day does not mean a painful night. I concentrate better ( and thus fish better) when my hands do not hurt.  For example, if I am fishing down a bank or rock bluff and am  throwing a square bill I might pick up a rod with a jig and toss the jig in a piece of wood for several minutes. Now that is always a smart move from a fishing point of view. For me it also means a different hand clutching the rod and thus I am not keeping my hands all cramped up one way. If I do not catch a bass either flipping or pitching that wood then maybe I pick up a rod with a swim jig and cover some shore with that before I go back to the square bill or toss a jerkbait. That just seems to work for me.

[MassYak85]

I'm right handed and reel with my right for spinning and baitcasting. I pitch with my left and prefer to cast with my left although I still have my right hand on the but of the rod when I do. 

[IndianaFinesse]

Like fishnkamp, I also use both right and left hand retrieve reels based on whether the lures used on that combo are moved with the rod or the reel.  I prefer right hand retrieve for baits that are constantly moved by the reel such as cankbaits, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, etc.  But I use left hand retrieve reels for baits that the rod is used to move, such as top water, jigs, jerkbaits, etc.

[CTBassin860]

I reel my sinning gear with my left and cast right handed.However I cast baitcasters righty and reel rightly.Its just a comfort thing and how I'm used to doing it.

[kstephes033]

This is a lot to due with how you learned, not sure if there is a true advantage one way or another other than pitching. I am right handed, reel lefty with spinning and reel righty with casting. Just the way i learned. I think a big reason for the right hand casting retrieve is that there just were not a lot of left handed reels out there up until recently. You could find them, but just not even close to as plentiful as they have become. I have just learned to cast, pitch, and skip with both hands so i can do it in any situation that comes up. Sometimes it benefits me to skip or cast lefty as i can get a better angle going down some rip rap for instance on a river, other times right cast is better. Just personal preference and how you learned to do it. I know many people that do it every way that has been described in this thread, and whatever is comfortable and makes you fish the bait correctly to catch fish is the correct answer and way to do it for that individual.

[jr231]

2 hours ago, chattooga_ basser said:

 

 I would have agreed with you until last year,but if your fishing from the back of the boat in a tournament or say around a pond with lots of trees it's nice to switch hands and create an angle for yourself. Lefty casting practice also keeps me entertained this time of year when I can't fish much.

 

This makes sense. I dont fish tournaments I'm lucky to even even have more than 5 hours to fish on any given day anyway. I do have a pond with lots of trees I frequent that casting with my left hand would prove advantageous. 

 

Lots of different ways of looking at it. And I've received good answers as to why someone right handed would prefer to reel with their right hand. The number one answer appears to be preference . But apparently offers small advantages in certain scenarios as well. 

 

 

[fishnkamp]

This topic is no different than the "preference'to use longer and longer rods. I met a guide named Craig Powers. He fishes the FLW series out in Tennessee ( I believe it is called the Choo Choo series). Anyway he had won close to 1 million dollars and much of it was made throwing his home made pop r style baits.  He would skip them way, way, way back up under docks and trees. Of course on those lake there are tons of boat houses too.  In order to get his cast to work he had a custom made short handled (almost like the old pistol grips) 6 foot or less rod with him. I was amazed just watching him work. He had a mastery of his baits and the tools he used to deliver them. The pros trends are not always the best way to go.

[MIbassyaker]

Use whatever you want. As somebody who came to baitcasting much later in life, long after my hands had been well-trained on a left-handed retrieve in spinning, I spent time obsessing over this issue, looking into reasons for having right vs. left handed baitcasting reels. The only consistent principle I found was this: People tend to use whatever permits their non-dominant hand to do whatever it has already gotten used to with familiarity and practice. Maybe your non-dominant hand already knows how to hold a rod, work a bait, perform a hookset. Mine doesn't. it only knows how to turn a reel because it learned how to do that with spinning gear when I was 8. So, I use lefty baitcasters because it permits my left to do what it already knows how to do -- turn a reel. 

 

Some pros do this too -- Chris Zaldain and David Walker use left-handed retrieve baitcasters despite being right handed because they find it more intuitive and comfortable...and Denny Brauer is left handed, but uses a right-handed reel.