Right or left

[Bassnatcher]

We cast the rod with the right arm on both right and left handed baitcasters so theres nothing to adapt to there. I use LH bcasters only and im right handed. The whole designation is backwards. LH reels should actually be called RH. If a RH person makes the switch to LH they will realize this. I picked up my buddys RH reel and tried to cast. I noticed the star drag gear box and handle were hitting my knuckles on my right hand making it annoying to try and thumb the spool on a cast. A LH reel gives your fingers all the room in the world. I also noticed its not easy to convince someone to switch to LH reels. Im ambidextrous so i do everything with both hands except writing. Try this. Take your spinning reel. Switch the handle to the right side. Now go fishing. It'll take 2 casts before you realize how ridiculous it is to switch the rod from hand to hand each time you cast. Think about it....

[CTBassin860]

51 minutes ago, Bassnatcher said:

We cast the rod with the right arm on both right and left handed baitcasters so theres nothing to adapt to there. I use LH bcasters only and im right handed. The whole designation is backwards. LH reels should actually be called RH. If a RH person makes the switch to LH they will realize this. I picked up my buddys RH reel and tried to cast. I noticed the star drag gear box and handle were hitting my knuckles on my right hand making it annoying to try and thumb the spool on a cast. A LH reel gives your fingers all the room in the world. I also noticed its not easy to convince someone to switch to LH reels. Im ambidextrous so i do everything with both hands except writing. Try this. Take your spinning reel. Switch the handle to the right side. Now go fishing. It'll take 2 casts before you realize how ridiculous it is to switch the rod from hand to hand each time you cast. Think about it....

Swapping hands takes a nanosecond.Its all preference.What's ridiculous is that someone cares how others prefer to reel.

[Deleted account]

On January 16, 2017 at 9:27 AM, fissure_man said:

 

When you fight a fish or reel in a pile of slop with a baitcaster do you hold the rod steady and just 'winch' it in?  I reel in a fish the same way whether using spinning or baitcasting tackle, yet my spinners are LH and most of my casters are RH.

 

 

To me it makes sense to switch because I like to palm a casting reel, but I can't easily operate the thumb bar and feather the spool from that position.  So even if I was casting right and reeling left, I'd have to move my hand from casting position to retrieving position, which is actually more awkward for me (trying to move my right hand when the left hand is only holding the reel handle).  With a spinning rod I cast with my right hand, and that hand never moves because I use the same grip for casting and retrieving. 

 

With a casting reel the switch is seamless for a two-handed cast:

 - right hand on trigger, left hand at end of rod handle, start the cast

 - mid-cast, bring left up to palm the reel

 - end of cast, start reeling with right hand

 

Easy to forget that you have to switch your hands back at the end of the cast, which is actually the most awkward and potentially time consuming IMO.   For cast and retrieve lures it's no problem and happens during the back-swing, but it can be tedious for rapid-fire pitching/flipping.

 

For those rods I've been trying LH reels, but still have the issue of hand position being a compromise between palming and casting grip.  If anyone's trying to do the same - I found that using a small reel like a Daiwa Alphas/Sol and fitting it with a large handle makes it easier.  The small frame reel is easier to operate from a compromised grip, and the longer handle seems to be easier to use with my uncoordinated left hand (which has no problem with spinning reels, somehow).  

 

Ok, can we archive this response, it's perfect (or more accurately variations from specs are indiscernible by test equipment). With the caveat of "use whatever works for YOU". Most folks cast and fish with the same hand position with spinning, and shift from casting to palming with bait casting, making each respectively more efficient. 

[RB 77]

Baitcasters right handed, spinning gear left. Its just how I have always done it and any other way feels weird. I feel the reasons stated in RW's posts play into this, although I can fish either way in a pinch.

[offsidewing]

What ever feels best to you.  I'm right-handed and all my reels are righty.  From age 4 to 13 I fished a Zebco 33.  I learned the fundamentals of all basic presentations and retrieves using my left hand to control the rod thanks to the right-hand retreive of the Zebco.  Casting with my non-dominant hand is almost as ugly looking as trying a finesse presentation with my dominant hand.  I'm right handed and trying to shakey head with my right arm is tougher than brushing my teeth with my left hand hand!  Go figure!

 

Now, if you want a real debate, ask me how to hold a knife and fork!

[Catt]

Make absolutely no difference what hand ya use!

 

I cast with my right hand & before the lure touches down the switch to my left hand has been accomplished.

 

Flipping, pitching, or punching I may or may not switch hands.

 

Casting, pitching, flipping, & punching I set hook with both hands!

 

If all ya got to beat me at fishing is ya don't change hands...ya in trouble!

[bigfruits]

like mentioned several times it doesnt matter.

 

i switched to left handed reels several years ago. not so much because switching hands was a pain but because i have better feel and control working baits (bottom contact, jerkbaits, topwater) with my dominant right hand on the rod. ive also never felt my left hand lacking when reeling in a fish. because i was used to fishing spinning combos with my right hand on the rod, it took about 2 casts to realize i made the right decision (for me).

 

its going to be different for everyone. i know people that are right handed that skateboard/snowboard with their right foot forward and lefties that do the opposite.

[NHBull]

I can crank both left and right, but setting the hook is more natural with my right arm, so I crank left

[Outdoors]

I'm right handed. Use right handed baitcasters and left handed spinning reels. A lot of my fishing gear used to come from walmart and kmart when I was a kid, and those stores (least where I live) mostly had their spinning reels with the reel on the left side, so it pretty much grew on me. And before ever buying a spinning reel of my own, the only one ones I used were left handed... Kinda felt as if that's how they're meant to be.

[IndianaFinesse]

35 minutes ago, Outdoors said:

I'm right handed. Use right handed baitcasters and left handed spinning reels. A lot of my fishing gear used to come from walmart and kmart when I was a kid, and those stores (least where I live) mostly had their spinning reels with the reel on the left side, so it pretty much grew on me. And before ever buying a spinning reel of my own, the only one ones I used were left handed... Kinda felt as if that's how they're meant to be.

You know you can switch a spinning reel's handle to either side if you want to.  I never have, I prefer to have my right hand on the rod for both casting and spinning (with the exception of cranking, or other baits typically moved with the reel), but if you want to switch you can simply unscrew the handle and the cap on the opposite side and screw the handle back on.

[Lyman X]

I think the guy that invented the casting reel put the crank on the wrong side. When we evolved sufficiently we moved it to the left side. I cannot see any reason to cast and then change hands to reel.

[Outdoors]

3 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

You know you can switch a spinning reel's handle to either side if you want to.  I never have, I prefer to have my right hand on the rod for both casting and spinning (with the exception of cranking, or other baits typically moved with the reel), but if you want to switch you can simply unscrew the handle and the cap on the opposite side and screw the handle back on.

Didn't matter, though. It felt awkward after using a left handed spinning reel for so long.

[david in va]

If I can get him to bite , you can bet I will hook him with either hand if needed  and I reel with my right hand. The left one is just for looks, you know hold the bread against the food so the right one can scoop it up with  the spoon  

 Oh and the left one will hold a can OK for the right one to open it, then passed back to the right to drink it

[Gooldy]

I am very right handed (my left is about as coordinated as a flipper), and I use fly, spinning, and casting gear all the same. Cast right, reel left. To me swapping hands seems completely silly.

 

Casting any of the above with my left hand feels about the same as trying to swing a bat or golf club left handed, i.e. completely and totally wrong. Reeling is by far the easier of the two tasks between controlling the bait and turning a handle, so I don't understand the argument of "you want your dominant hand to be controlling the fish," since that is what the rod does in all three cases. Feeling a finesse bait on the bottom, throwing mends with a fly rod gently, setting the hook... these are all things I want my good hand taking care of. 

[Fun4Me]

Those of us that can reel with both our right and left hands are just better than those of you that can't. (just kidding)

 

For me personally, I like to palm the reel on baitcasters. In order to do that I have to change my hand position no matter what side the handle is on. So, for me, casting with my right hand is more comfortable and accurate. Casting right hand and reeling left hand would still require me to change the position of my right hand on the reel. I would have to throw the bait out, grab the handle, or something with my left hand, then reposition my right hand in the palming position. It would be a fairly awkward thing when my entire reel and rod is supported by just my left hand on one paddle of a handle.

 

Now, when I use a right hand retrieve, I cast out with my right hand, then grab the reel in the position I want with my left hand producing a hand to hand transfer and not a hand to handle transfer, which is much more secure for me.

 

With spinning gear, I don't need to palm the reel, so I cast with my right and reel with my left. I've never had any problem setting hooks with either hand on the rod, but I prefer casting everything with my right hand.