Baitcasters; Right vs Left handed retrieve...

[Eric J]

When I bought my baitcaster I went with a left hand retrieve as it feels more natural to me, maybe because of years of spinning with left hand. Plus I'm a right handed and that's my power hand/arm.

 

But I see so many right handed anglers go with a right hand retrieve, do the pass over after cast and set with the left hand.

 

Any reason why you righties go with a right retrieve?

[Eric86]

I'm a leftie and I prefer a right handed baitcaster.  I like that my dominant hand does all the important stuff as turning a handle is a basic task for either hand.  That being said as a leftie I have had to become efficient at using my right hand because let's face it...  it's a right handed world.

[flyfisher]

old topic and age old question.  I will see if i can sum up the 2 main answers i have seen:

 

1) Baitcasting reels are more like a winch and the power is generated by the reel and not the rod so you want the stronger arm to be reeling

2)If you started using them "back in the day" or were taught by someone from that time frame, all that existed were right hand retrieves so that is what you bought or learned on from the people who taught you.

 

For me it made no sense so i use left hand retrieve reels for everything from spinning, bait casting and fly reels.  I am glad that bait casting reels have definitely increased the offerings in LH retrieve.

[BrianinMD]

Just use what feels comfortable to you....no point in making things harder than they need to be.

[MassYak85]

Just use what's more comfortable. IMO the whole "your dominant arm is stronger so use that" argument is silly. It's fine motor skills that make one arm or hand dominant not your raw strength, and even if one arm IS stronger for some reason, no one is using their full strength to set the hook anyways...nor should you for bass fishing unless you want broken rods. I'm a righty, I reel with my right hand for spinning and casting because it feels easier to make a circular motion with my hand. 

[Tennessee Boy]

45 minutes ago, Eric J said:

Any reason why you righties go with a right retrieve?

Yes,  they don't know better ?!  .... just kidding.  Angers that "do it wrong" include most pros so obviously you can catch fish that way.  I will say that I'm very glad that 25 years ago I decided to switch to left hand reels on my slow retrieve rods.  It didn't take long to get used to "doing it right" and it offers many advantages and no disadvantages beyond the initial time getting used to the change.  

[Deleted account]

59 minutes ago, Eric J said:

Any reason why you righties go with a right retrieve?

YES. I'll elaborate in January, Again....   

[Lead Head]

I went the opposite route. Years ago, when I started more seriously bass fishing (somewhere around age 20), I decided it would be more efficient to cast with my left hand so I wouldn't have to switch over to reel. At that time I had recently had reconstructive surgery on my right wrist so I was learning how to do all kinds of things lefty and casting came pretty easy. I have recently been trying to relearn to cast right handed just to make it easier to hit all available targets. Its pretty comical, you would never believe I spent the first 20 years of my life casting with my right hand if you could see how bad it is. 

[Glenn]

Tastes Great, Less Filling.

 

I've had guys tell me they can make more casts, more efficient, etc. with lefties because they don't need to switch hands.  Then they're humbled when I go toe-to-toe with them and make more casts.  So much for that argument.  But the "righties" that use "lefties" love it, so more power to them!

 

Bottom line is, it's personal preference.  There is no "best" way that's universal.  It's whatever works "best" for YOU.

 

Have fun fishing!

 

[flyfisher]

15 minutes ago, Glenn said:

Tastes Great, Less Filling.

 

I've had guys tell me they can make more casts, more efficient, etc. with lefties because they don't need to switch hands.  Then they're humbled when I go toe-to-toe with them and make more casts.  So much for that argument.  But the "righties" that use "lefties" love it, so more power to them!

 

Bottom line is, it's personal preference.  There is no "best" way that's universal.  It's whatever works "best" for YOU.

 

Have fun fishing!

 

so you literally sat there and had a casting contest with a person to see who could cast more frequently?  Were all casts the same distance, same retrieve rate reels and reeled the exact same speed, same line and weight?  

I am calling BS on this one, sorry...

Now all that being said i don't think it matters too much on number of casts but by the definition of the word casting with one hand and retrieving with the other is more efficient.  There is no way to argue it isn't because each had does one thing.

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, Eric J said:

When I bought my baitcaster I went with a left hand retrieve as it feels more natural to me, maybe because of years of spinning with left hand. Plus I'm a right handed and that's my power hand/arm.

 

But I see so many right handed anglers go with a right hand retrieve, do the pass over after cast and set with the left hand.

 

Any reason why you righties go with a right retrieve?

...because we haven't learned to reel efficiently with our left hand, along the lines of what MassYak85 said. Makes no difference in the big scheme of things

[Jrob78]

Back in the day left hand baitcasters weren't popular so we all learned on rh reels. I've tried to use lh baitcasters but years of muscle memory makes it really hard to switch. The balance between lh and rh reels is different and the way you have to grip the rod changes. I can cast, switch hands and thumb the spool while the bait is still in the air, it is just as fast for me to use rh reels. All that said, if you are right handed and can use a lh reel, it makes sense to do so.

[MickD]

I've used left crank spin reels and right crank BC reels since I was a kid, and that's a long time ago.  I am naturally a right handed person.  Two years ago I injured my left rotator cup and found that with my baitcasters I had trouble jigging blade baits, so thought the solution would be a left crank BC reel so that my right could do the jigging.

 

Within a few months I found myself trying to retrieve my old right crank BC reels with my left hand.  I had gotten used to the left crank.

 

I now prefer the left crank BC reel to my old right cranks.

 

Bottom line, it's about what you prefer, and one can get used to either even after using only one for many years.

[Chris186]

I am ambidextrous so I can use rods and reels either way. But I prefer a right hand retrieve reel, but I also prefer to cast with my right. I can do pretty much everything equally with both hands like swing a golf club, bat, throw a ball etc. The only thing I can't do with both hands anymore is write, I haven't done it since I was very young and my parents told me I had to pick a hand so I went with the right.

[NYWayfarer]

When I bought my first baitcaster I got a right handed retrieve reel because I am right handed.

 

It felt natural because I was brought up on saltwater baitcasers that only came in right handed retrieve.

[Domino256]

I prefer LHR though being right-hand dominant. I also noticed that the left-hand retrieve reels are more difficult to keep in stock. I had a reel in my cart for a week between paychecks and LHR is now sold out completely. Does it sell better or do they make less of them? Thoughts?

[kenmitch]

35 minutes ago, Domino256 said:

I prefer LHR though being right-hand dominant. I also noticed that the left-hand retrieve reels are more difficult to keep in stock. I had a reel in my cart for a week between paychecks and LHR is now sold out completely. Does it sell better or do they make less of them? Thoughts?

Good question for a large tackle distributor I'd think. Without having the data I'd lean towards not as popular so they stock less. It could also be the other way around and they're more popular.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I cast with the right and reel with the right on both baitcaster and spinning as it's the way it feels more natural too me. The switching of the rod from my right to left hand happens just after the lure hits the water. I've always done it this way and don't see any reason to change it. 

 

[Caliyak]

On 9/23/2018 at 7:31 AM, Eric J said:

When I bought my baitcaster I went with a left hand retrieve as it feels more natural to me, maybe because of years of spinning with left hand. Plus I'm a right handed and that's my power hand/arm.

 

But I see so many right handed anglers go with a right hand retrieve, do the pass over after cast and set with the left hand.

 

Any reason why you righties go with a right retrieve?

I'm trying flipping and pitching with a left reel, little weird but getting use to it. I will use a right for moving baits, speed. Buzzbait is a good example.  Try to use the left for one technique and the right for another. See how that goes. It takes time and practice. But, if you fish once a week, like me, it will take you longer.

[Boomstick]

I am primarily left handed, cast left handed but I cannot reel with my left hand for the life of me, so I use right handed baitcasters so the rod never leaves my left hand. It fees much more natural that way to me.

[Woody_California]

Lefty here that prefers right hand retrieve. 

[Eric J]

6 hours ago, Caliyak said:

I'm trying flipping and pitching with a left reel, little weird but getting use to it. I will use a right for moving baits, speed. Buzzbait is a good example.  Try to use the left for one technique and the right for another. See how that goes. It takes time and practice. But, if you fish once a week, like me, it will take you longer.

I was away from fishing for many years, Spinners were still the reel of choice and I always cast with the right and reeled with the left. Casters were not yet a freshwater thing. So when I got back into it it just felt natural to go left hand retrieve.

 

No reason for me to try to change up, I don't have any issues with right hand cast/left hand retrieve... Really just curious...

[Derek1]

I also am left handed, just recently switched over to baitcaster. Always reeled with my right so just got a bait caster the same way. I like it like this I don’t think I could reel with my left. 

[govallis]

My right shoulder and arm have been abused by computer mouse, so I use right hand to retrieve and my left hand to hold the weight and twitch. And, this way, the handle screw is harder to lose.

[Catt]

On 9/23/2018 at 11:27 AM, Glenn said:

  Then they're humbled when I go toe-to-toe with them and make more casts.  So much for that argument.

 

On 9/23/2018 at 11:44 AM, flyfisher said:

so you literally sat there and had a casting contest with a person to see who could cast more frequently?  Were all casts the same distance, same retrieve rate reels and reeled the exact same speed, same line and weight?  
 
I am calling BS on this one, sorry

 

Yeah! It's called tournament fishing!

 

If all ya got to beat me is what hand my rod is in ya just donated your entry fee!

 

You'll only underestimate me once! ?

[NHBull]

I took a different  approach. I am very close to being ambidextrous.  I qualified expect with rifle and pistol both L and R. Can bat,golf, and shoot a puck almost as good L as R. That said, setting a hook with my R is distinctly better and my R hand more sensitive to touch.

It's just more natural for me NOT to change hands.  

 

If this was Winter, the replies will be a mile long.........Do what feels natural and don't waste time trying to confirm.