Left vs Right Handed Reels

[new2BC4bass]

17 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I fish righty reels and I'm right handed. It's how I grew up doing it. We're fishing for bass people, "stronger arm" doesn't matter unless you have twigs for arms. The fine motor skills you develop are what define your "dominant" hand. To me, something like turning a reel handle in a smooth circle fall in that category, to others, maybe twitching a bait falls more into that. It doesn't matter, do whatever is more comfortable. 

I don't feel I have twigs for arms, but my rod arm sure tired out after a period of pulling a 1/2 oz. spinnerbait with Colorado blades (sometimes thru the top of grass/weeds) even though I was only catching bass.  I was in my mid 60s and hadn't exercised in years.  But I can still lift with one arm what has a few of my younger coworkers grunting while using two arms.  I was glad I had both right and left hand reels with me.

 

I have no problem generating a circular movement with either wrist.  I don't see what side a handle is on having anything to do with which hand a person casts with.  If accuracy is paramount I will always cast right handed.  Can't seem to overcome the umpteen years of casting right handed with spinning.

[PhishLI]

Um, I just wanna put this out there. I didn't start yet another goofy Left Vs Right thread. I simply posted a link about a deal and a few comments about it in the Latest Sale Thread. I'm assuming that either myself or someone else broke a rule and that single post was morphed into it's own thread on a different forum.

 

But let me jump right in. I could care less what you "should" be doing or how. 

 

I took up wading for one reason. I didn't want to be held hostage to fishing through small cuts in the treelines ringing the banks of lakes around here. No boats are allowed. I'm right handed and have always casted with my right and reeled lefty. When I wade out just far enough to avoid tree branches on the backswing I'm usually getting pretty deep. That's usually the limit of how far out I can go. Casting to the left and parallel to the bank with 7'+ rods is usually do-able here. But casting with my right arm and to the right is not. That loss of distance and ability to reach out is cut off by a few feet and that's enough to tree lures often.

 

So I bought a righty reel and taught myself to cast with my left and reel with my right. Yes I could've just used what I had, but I went all in. 

I now can cast in both directions without going out dangerously far. This really opened things up for me. Now when I'm on a boat with someone else I don't feel handicapped or need to contort myself while casting, or to being relegated to overhead casting only. When they're in my way or the direction of the boat has changed and I'm casting with my right arm I simply switch casting arms. I'm getting good at it now. No more swatting my son in law's hat off. No more trebles whistling past my brother's lips. It's working out well.

[Cityangler7]

On 2/14/2020 at 7:31 PM, PhishLI said:

https://tackletrap.com/index.php?main_page=specials

 

The Tackle Trap has a special deal on the Daiwa Catalina TW JDM reel in two gear ratios. 4:9 and 7:3 lefties. It's basically a scaled back Zillion HD, but with Magforce Z and a drag clicker. I have the 7:3. Awesome reel. Unbelievably tight and smooth. Just a touch wider than a Fuego CT.  It's a monster long caster too. $175 and free shipping.

Just picked it up in 4:9:1, thanks. 

[Quarry Man]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

 

 

So I bought a righty reel and taught myself to cast with my left and reel with my right. Yes I could've just used what I had, but I went all in. 

I now can cast in both directions without going out dangerously far. This really opened things up for me. Now when I'm on a boat with someone else I don't feel handicapped or need to contort myself while casting, or to being relegated to overhead casting only. When they're in my way or the direction of the boat has changed and I'm casting with my right arm I simply switch casting arms. I'm getting good at now. No more swatting my son in law's hat off. No more trebles whistling past my brother's lips. It's working out well.

thats my plan too, when im coming one way down the bank, its easier to pitch and harder to flip, going the opposite direction, the opposite is true. I want to be comfortable pitching and roll casting with both arms. one way to do this is learn to use a righty, or just cast left had and reel left hand, advantage of trying different side is buddy tournaments being able to pick up their rod regardless of the side the reel is on

[dodgeguy]

9 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

You got it backwards.  Reeling actually uses more fine motor skills than working the rod.  Look at your anology.  

 

Fine motor skills: small precise movements in and hands and wrist such as grasping with fingers/thumb and wrist movements

 

Gross motor skills: arm, fore arm, shoulder, leg and large body movements

 

Grasping the reel handle and making rapid small circles with your hand by rotating at the wrist is heavily dependent on fine motor skills

 

Holding on the rod, working the bait and hook setting largely make use of gross motor skills of the arm holding the rod as well as other muscle groups in the body.  

 

In either case practice makes perfect.  The fine motor skills needed to reel as efficiently with your dominant hand can be learned with your non dominate by just practicing with a left hand baitcast reel.  It does need to be a baitcast reel.  It may seem like both are reeled the same way and make use of the same muscle groups and motor skills but that is not the case for everyone.  

 

Spinning reels are suspended below the rod and can be turned with both forearm and shoulder muscle groups f desired and have a single handle with a large knob thay can be grasped in a number or ways.   It is because of this that spinning reel handle rotation is not as reliant on the fine motor skills in the reel hand as a baitcast reel.  This is also why we often see a right handed angler have no problem with a left hand spinning reel but struggle to use a left hand baitcast reel. 

 

Baitcast reels are palmed and have the handle above the rod.  This places the reeling arm up against the anglers side and allows for rotational movement of the handle to be only performed by rotating at the wrist due to the body blocking the any rotation of the shoulder and forearm.  You will sometimes see a workaround to this with right hand dominant guys using left hand baitcast reels.  They will lift the reeling arms elbow away from the side and have the forearm parallel to the handle to allow for rotation of the forearm about the elbow to relive reeling stress on the wrist.  Aka doing the chicken wing.  The double handle and small knobs of baitcast reel also only allow for grasping the handle knobs to be done with the thumb and index finger which further relies on fine motor skills.

 

 

This is the best explanation ever !!! I can reel a spinning reel lefty but not a baitcaster.

[schplurg]

I do think this discussion is on topic since the thread title is Left Vs Right Hand Reels  Then again, the OP mentions nothing about it so, maybe not.

 

I don't see much difference in the way a BC or spinner is reeled but maybe that's just me. I just tried it. I can use the arm, elbow, relax and just use the wrist. the above description doesn't seem to apply to me. Maybe I d o it wrong though, certainly possible.

 

My spinning handles are a lot longer than BC, that's the only thing that makes a difference to me that I can tell.

 

But maybe I'm weird, I've been "forced" to do things left handed at times. I use a PC mouse either hand with no problems, and I played guitar for years which may have helped develop the left hand. I played hockey lefty (which is not at all unusual for a righty) and played golf righty.

 

For me holding the rod bothers my tendinitis, which is why I switched to lefty for the majority of my fishing. I do like to switch back and forth though. I'd buy a lefty or righty reel for BC just so I can switch maybe.

[suzuki2903]

received my daiwa catalina today. very nice reel! a little bigger then expected or compared to most lews and shimano reels that i own. feels very smooth and playing around in the yard it was easy to setup and casting is very very good. cant wait to get it out on the water now.  for the price, it was a steal of a deal in my opinion.

[Cityangler7]

12 minutes ago, suzuki2903 said:

received my daiwa catalina today. very nice reel! a little bigger then expected or compared to most lews and shimano reels that i own. feels very smooth and playing around in the yard it was easy to setup and casting is very very good. cant wait to get it out on the water now.  for the price, it was a steal of a deal in my opinion.

I just got mine today as well, Suzuki's assessment of the reel is spot on.

[J Francho]

I honestly don't know why some think one way is better than the other, especially in the dead of winter.

[Jermination]

4 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I honestly don't know why some think one way is better than the other, especially in the dead of winter.

Flippin jigs on flooded muddy water man! I help with a couple high school teams in the area and always try to teach the kids to get comfortable reeling with their left hand if they are able. So much easier not having to switch hands every flip. Left handed stuff is harder to find, but it's usually a few bucks cheaper from what i've noticed.

[RichF]

Just now, Jermination said:

Flippin jigs on flooded muddy water man! I help with a couple high school teams in the area and always try to teach the kids to get comfortable reeling with their left hand if they are able. So much easier not having to switch hands every flip. Left handed stuff is harder to find, but it's usually a few bucks cheaper from what i've noticed.

Have you guys ever seen Hackney flip? Rod in left hand, right retrieve. Flip with your left and you never have to switch. 

[Jermination]

Just now, RichF said:

Have you guys ever seen Hackney flip? Rod in left hand, right retrieve. Flip with your left and you never have to switch. 

i have, but the majority of right handed people i know couldnt brush their teeth with their left hand, let alone guide a rod ?

[J Francho]

7 minutes ago, Jermination said:

Flippin jigs on flooded muddy water man! I help with a couple high school teams in the area and always try to teach the kids to get comfortable reeling with their left hand if they are able. So much easier not having to switch hands every flip. Left handed stuff is harder to find, but it's usually a few bucks cheaper from what i've noticed.

Or teach them to flip with their left.

[Jermination]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Or teach them to flip with their left.

also a valid option. i can't flip with my left, and i'm left handed. sort of. bat, golf, reel with my left. throw & write with my right

[J Francho]

I can’t do any cast with my left. 

[kayaking_kev]

I went from fishing zebco spincast the few times I fished as a kid and using one the first half of season my first season bass fishing before moving to a baitcaster, so I skipped the spinning reels and right handed reels felt a lot more natural to me. I never had a problem in my short time fishing setting the hook while holding the rod in my left hand, but I have noticed now that I have been using longer rods that I do get a little more arm fatigue. I also think it's going to be easier to learn to reel left handed than it is to cast or pitch left handed, so I purchased a Catalina 7.3.1 and a Tatula 100 7.3.1 both left handed for $200 from the flea market forum yesterday. I've been wanting to try the Daiwa TWS anyway. I plan to put them both on Xtasys, so they will get used. I've only tried a friends left handed reel for a short time once, so it's going to be a bit of a gamble. I don't see myself switching my cranking reels over to left hand anytime soon though. Have any of you ever switched from right to left handed reels or started using both after first starting out using a right hand?

[PhishLI]

18 minutes ago, J Francho said:

I can’t do any cast with my left.

I'm a righty. Getting good at overhead bomb cast took me longer to get right than other casts when using my right arm. It was more about refining my casting mechanics and thumb control during a higher effort movement, and at very low brake settings, than anything else. I probably do it more than any other cast now especially when I'm wading lakes. i need to cover water. The odd thing is this: It's the thing I could do best with my left arm right off the bat. I can throw baits nearly as far with my left. Its the other techniques that are lagging behind, like my brain is wired in reverse. Skipping, which I do lots of righty, is killing me lefty, but I won't quit on it.

[PhishLI]

3 hours ago, Cityangler7 said:

I just got mine today as well, Suzuki's assessment of the reel is spot on.

I put some good time on mine Monday. I just about spooled it throwing a 3/4 oz Dark Sleeper. 12lb Big Game. 7'3" stick. 3/8 oz baits are quite manageable. It's more than a prettier Tatula. It's buttery smooth pulling weight. A true upgrade. I'm ordering a Zillion HD spool for heavier line for bigger baits, once I confirm fitment.

[Adam Markley]

On 2/20/2020 at 7:04 PM, PhishLI said:

I put some good time on mine Monday. I just about spooled it throwing a 3/4 oz Dark Sleeper. 12lb Big Game. 7'3" stick. 3/8 oz baits are quite manageable. It's more than a prettier Tatula. It's buttery smooth pulling weight. A true upgrade. I'm ordering a Zillion HD spool for heavier line for bigger baits, once I confirm fitment.

Do you think it can handle bigger baits with the stock spool? 1-4oz tops

[PhishLI]

24 minutes ago, Adam Markley said:

Do you think it can handle bigger baits with the stock spool? 1-4oz tops

Sure, but line capacity when using 25 pound mono and chucking big baits way out there might be an issue. The truth is I'll never really use this reel for that duty, even if the geartrain is up to the task. 20lb mono will be the highest I'll go in stock form. I have 300-400 sized reels for bigger baits. However, I wouldn't mind having the deeper HD spool to swap in for lighter baits like Ganteral Jrs., etc. When I'm not on a boat I want to cover water and bomb cast.  A lighter weight aftermarket SV spool is also in this reel's future. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with the stock spool, I just like playing with toys, especially if there're options available, and there are in this case.