Baitcasters LH vs RH retreive

[jonkevin]

I am right handed and use LH casting and spinning reels

[drmevo]

I cast right and use a LH baitcaster. However, I do something weird with spinning where I cast left whenever I need to be really accurate and thumb/cup the reel with my right hand to control distance. Then I switch hands and reel lefty.

[MassYak85]

I'm a righty. I hold the rod in whichever hand I need to to make the cast. If it's the left I do a two handed cast with my right hand on the butt of the rod, and I just bring it to the handle as soon as the lure is in the air. If I make a right handed cast it's one handed and I switch when the lure hits the water. 

[Darren.]

Another cast right/reel right guy here.

 

Spinning all lefty. Like @Bluebasser86, I've tried to 

do spinning righty, but no way. Only messed with lefty

baitcasters in-store, and another no way for me.

[RPreeb]

16 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I reel left handed with spinning, right handed with baitcasting, and I CANNOT interchange the two. Trying to reel a spinning reel right handed or a baitcaster left handed feels completely foreign to me. I tried a lefty baitcaster once, even setting the hook felt all wrong. I went back and have no plans to change again. I switch hands mid cast and I'm ready to reel or set the hook as soon as my bait hits the water anyways. 

 

I'm right here too.  I'm dominantly right handed, cast either right handed or two handed.  I use a right handed baitcaster as that's how I learned 50+ years ago.  After leaving the MN and WI Northwoods for the Rockies, I used spinning and fly rods for trout for many years.  For spinning, it's natural for me to operate the bail with my left and crank with the left while casting 2 handed - right hand always holds the rod with the fingers straddling the reel mount. 

 

I can't do that with a baitcaster - it just feels wrong.  Have to cast righty, switch hands and crank righty (which doesn't require any thought at all - it's automatic).  Even though I hadn't used a baitcaster since the early 60's when I bought my first Tatula this summer, the switch just feels natural.

[Al w.]

I'm right handed but prefer left handed baitcasters. It's what I started with because of reeling left with spinning gear. Now it feels natural to me. As a bonus, sometimes left handed baitcasters are on sale when the right handed ones are all gone. 

[3crows]

I think the left hand reel BC for right handed people must come from those who learned and always used spinning gear where that is the norm. The vast majority of BC reels have the handle on the right side, so much so that some reels are not available in all ratios for left handle, this because most people are right handed dominant. Kind of like I occasionally see bait caster people who have never used a spinner outfit holding it upside down to get the handle to the right (as if they did not know it can be switched). 

 

I am right handed and use a right hand BC reel, cast right or left, reel right handed. I only recently acquired a spinning outfit, having never used one or even held one until recently, it is also right handed, cast right or left, reel left handed. I cannot imagine why I would want a left handed bait caster? Why? I cast equally well with either hand. But I like the BC rod in my left hand and reel in with my right. If you can cast only with your left hand or only with your right hand, how would you cast to favor one side or use both hands to cast? I can cast, flip, pitch, with either hand equally well or both hands on and with either hand front. But when it comes to taking in the line with a BC, I reel with my right hand and with a spinner reel with my left and any other way feels very odd and wrong to me.

 

In any case, cast and reel as you prefer. With a BC reel, make mine right handed.

[bigbill]

In my early days I was a car mechanic working at a dealership. Working under dashboards I became amberdexterious. No jokes now, lol. When I first started working on cars I was 6yo washing parts for the old man. That's starting at the bottom for sure.

[Further North]

I'm right handed, cast right, reel left.  No swapping hands for me, can't see any benefit.

 

Someone said it early in the topic: Go with your preference...that's what's best for you.

[DINK WHISPERER]

I will NEVER understand the whole cast right then switch to reel right thing! All LH reels for me and I'm right handed.

[BigAngus752]

Right-handed guy.  Left-handed baitcaster.  Glad to hear I'm not alone!

[3crows]

And I do not understand why it is thought that just because one is right handed and have/use a right hand reel that they must shift hands? What if they just cast left handed? If one can cast with either hand equally well and handle the rod equally well with either hand why does it matter which side they have the handle on? The handle has to be somewhere, why not on the right?

[Boomstick]

I'm predominantly left handed and I cast with my left and crank with my right. I might be able to cast poorly with my right arm if I had to, but for whatever reason I just can't crank with my left but it's natural with my right, so when I learned on a RH baitcaster, it just felt natural to me.

[LxVE Bassin]

I am left handed and I like cranking with my left hand. I cast with my right so the rod never switches hands. Fishing right handed is way too uncomfortable for me. I won't fish if the reel isn't left handed.

[ww2farmer]

Cast with right hand, crank with left hand. Both spinning and casting gear.

 

A lot of people I fish with use RH casting reels, and when I use one it feels weird and awkward to me.

[Hulkster]

When I learned to baitcast in the late 90s, lefties were just starting to come out and not widely available.

 

so I learned the old school way: Cast and switch so I reel with my right hand.

 

its all I know. to me, lefties don't look right

[Mike L]

Cast right, Flip and pitch either way, but always reel right. 

 

 

Mike

[3crows]

I hurt my right wrist jumping off a cliff into the lake here at big TR. So now I cast left and reel with my right hand entirely. Good to be a switch hitter. 

[YoTone]

cast left reel right.

thinking about trying a lh baitcaster because my kayaks steering lever is on the left. 

its a pain to hold a rod and steer with the left hand.

ive tried left hand reels, didnt feel natural but im sure with time i could adapt.

[Columbia Craw]

When I started with a bait caster (level wind) there were no left hand models so all my casting reels are right handed.  I tried a LH for part of one season on a pitching rod.  Not gonna happen. At least I tried it. 

[Michaelangelo]

spinning - cast right or left handed, reel left handed

baitcast - cast right or left handed, reel right handed

 

Being able to cast with both hands equally makes a HUGE difference.  Try both retrieves when working lures and landing fish.  When I use a left handed baitcast I feel extremely awkward.

[pondbassin101]

I am completely inept at reeling with my right hand. I started out fishing with a LH spinning reel and moved on to LH baitcasters. I've tried fishing with my friend's RH baitcaster, and let's just say my lure action was less than sub-par and extremely akward.  

[rosshilk]

I don’t try left handed bait caster, because I’m worried I’d like it! I would have to replace my whole lineup. I have noticed you can get really nice reels on sale left handed, because people don’t buy them as frequently.

[XpressJeff]

On 9/15/2017 at 12:01 AM, Catt said:

Cast with my right, switch hands, & crank with my right!

 

I did this for many years, until...

 

     ...I took a long break from fishing and now I cast with my R hand and crank with my L. I have sold or given away all my RH crank reels. 

 

It seems unnatural now!

[BrianSnat]

On 9/22/2017 at 2:52 PM, YoTone said:

cast left reel right.

thinking about trying a lh baitcaster because my kayaks steering lever is on the left. 

its a pain to hold a rod and steer with the left hand.

ive tried left hand reels, didnt feel natural but im sure with time i could adapt.

I think that is huge for those of us who use tiller motors.  I operate the motor with my left hand and the rod is ready to go in my right. Some people who responded said they cast equally well with either hand.  That is a nice skill to have, but I suspect most people cast best with their dominant hand.