Scruffy Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 How often is it that a right-handed lad like myself, is actually a left-handed fisherman? See i bought this Shimano reel sometime, a spin-cast, and i could not get used to reeling with my right hand. For me it feels so ungodly uncomfortable, so i flipped the reel on the left. Well i made the mistake of not thining about this when i bought my new baitcaster. Its incredibly uncomfortable to reel with my right hand becuase i cannot cast with my left, so i am constantly switching hands. how common is this? Any other backwards people here? Also, is there a model or make of baitcaster that is interchangeable? Thanks Cody (Scruffy) Quote
OIFBasser Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 It's pretty common for guys to cast with their dominant hand, and then switch to reel in ( Right handed person casts w/ right hand, switchws to left to reel with right hand). For a long time left handed baitcasters were limited, and people just got used to it. I know some right handed guys who switched to left handed reel baitcasters and are more comfortable with it now, but it took some time getting used to it. I would suggest buying a right and a left hand baitcaster cheap on ebay and trying it out for your own personal preferrence. Quote
FishDontLikeMe1301600221 Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 That is a sweet tatter by the way. x2 haha Quote
Super User Raul Posted July 23, 2009 Super User Posted July 23, 2009 How often is it that a right-handed lad like myself, is actually a left-handed fisherman? See i bought this Shimano reel sometime, a spin-cast, and i could not get used to reeling with my right hand. For me it feels so ungodly uncomfortable, so i flipped the reel on the left. Well i made the mistake of not thining about this when i bought my new baitcaster. Its incredibly uncomfortable to reel with my right hand becuase i cannot cast with my left, so i am constantly switching hands. how common is this? Any other backwards people here? Also, is there a model or make of baitcaster that is interchangeable? Thanks Cody (Scruffy) I 'm right handed, I cast with the right and reel in with the right. Been switching hands for more than 25 years. Baitcasters, unlike spinning reels and some spincast reels, are not and can 't be handle side interchangeable. Quote
Super User islandbass Posted July 23, 2009 Super User Posted July 23, 2009 How often is it that a right-handed lad like myself, is actually a left-handed fisherman? See i bought this Shimano reel sometime, a spin-cast, and i could not get used to reeling with my right hand. For me it feels so ungodly uncomfortable, so i flipped the reel on the left. Well i made the mistake of not thining about this when i bought my new baitcaster. Its incredibly uncomfortable to reel with my right hand becuase i cannot cast with my left, so i am constantly switching hands. how common is this? Any other backwards people here? Also, is there a model or make of baitcaster that is interchangeable? Thanks Cody (Scruffy) First off, you are not backwards. By default it should be this way. But this is not set in stone. There are many right-handed folks that prefer RH retrieve, but I prefer LH retrieve. A right-handed reel is called that because the right hand turns the crank, not because it is for use by anglers you have a right-hand dominance. Hand dominance plays no part in that description. The bottomline is this: Use whatever reel is most comfortable. If you get funny looks for using LH reels, give a funny look back. ;D Quote
Super User KYntucky Warmouth Posted July 23, 2009 Super User Posted July 23, 2009 I'm right handed and to be honest, there is no way I could crankbait fish left handed. The dominant hand and arm, right i my case, enable for cranking without fatigue. When fishing a right hand reel, it's the right hand that does all the work when retrieving and fighting fish, the left just holds the rod, so why would it be awkward to use your dominant hand? I started on a 33, right handed, and then used spinning, left handed, now bait casting, right handed, which couldn't be closer to how I learned to fish. I think it's really about conditioning yourself to one way or another. I personally can't fish a left handed bait caster because I tend to want to reel with a wider circle like I would on a spinning reel, and the same thing goes for a right handed spinning reel. Quote
Koop Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 I'm right handed and use a left handed retrieve spin caster and left handed retrieve bait caster. IMO its all preference. I just feel holding the rod in my right hand I have more control on hook sets and guiding the fish. Quote
DINK WHISPERER Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 I recently switched most of my Revos over to LH retrieve. I am right handed but definitely get better hook sets with my right hand. I can also work the lure better as well. Quote
rubba bubba Posted July 23, 2009 Posted July 23, 2009 It has been almost 2 weeks since this was discussed. I was starting to worry that it might not come up again. Whew. Quote
Scruffy Posted July 24, 2009 Author Posted July 24, 2009 Super glad to hear i'm not some kinda mutant fisherman. I would love to be able to cast and hold my baitcaster in my right hand and retrieve with my left. I'm thinking about taking it back but i've already brought in 4 fish with it so i don't want to return a product if its not necessary. I just hate holding the reel in my left hand becuase i can't cast left handed and i want it all to feel fluent. I'm going to try and trade my current reel to someone so i can get a left-handed retrieving model. Thanks for the input, i'm still pretty new to fishing and i'm just learning my place so any of your feedback is completely welcomed. Time to trade! Quote
Super User islandbass Posted July 24, 2009 Super User Posted July 24, 2009 Super glad to hear i'm not some kinda mutant fisherman. I would love to be able to cast and hold my baitcaster in my right hand and retrieve with my left. I'm thinking about taking it back but i've already brought in 4 fish with it so i don't want to return a product if its not necessary. I just hate holding the reel in my left hand becuase i can't cast left handed and i want it all to feel fluent. I'm going to try and trade my current reel to someone so i can get a left-handed retrieving model. Thanks for the input, i'm still pretty new to fishing and i'm just learning my place so any of your feedback is completely welcomed. Time to trade! Keep it and learn to use it and also get future reels left-handed. I did the exact same thing as you and taught myself to fish the opposite way. It will come in handy when your dominant side gets "tired.: ;D For me this happens when pier fishing for salmon with heavy spoons. ;D Quote
rubba bubba Posted July 24, 2009 Posted July 24, 2009 Keep it and learn to use it and also get future reels left-handed. I did the exact same thing as you and taught myself to fish the opposite way. It will come in handy when your dominant side gets tired. These are words of widom; heed them. Quote
LAO162 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 Super glad to hear i'm not some kinda mutant fisherman. I would love to be able to cast and hold my baitcaster in my right hand and retrieve with my left. I'm thinking about taking it back but i've already brought in 4 fish with it so i don't want to return a product if its not necessary. I just hate holding the reel in my left hand becuase i can't cast left handed and i want it all to feel fluent. I'm going to try and trade my current reel to someone so i can get a left-handed retrieving model. Thanks for the input, i'm still pretty new to fishing and i'm just learning my place so any of your feedback is completely welcomed. Time to trade! You definately need a LH model if you are too distracted to enjoy fishing. It is honorable that you do not want to return a used item. Take it to the shop & be honest. Maybe they'll sell it as a demo and someone else will get a good deal. Leon Quote
kikstand454 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 i think this is mostly conditioning. "most (?)" people grew up fishing the old push button zebcos and things and just learned to cast right, switch hands, and reel right. then i htink if you move up to a spinning reel in your tweens and teens... you tend to want to minimize movement and learn to reel left handed, still casting right. it just feels right to do this with a spinning outfit. i think it has to do with the rotation and torque of a spinning reel too.... but when you switch to learning baitcasters.... its kinda back to zebco33 school and thats what feels comfortable. this is evident in the fact that until recently, it was incredibly hard to even find a lh retreive baitcaster....even though "effeciently" it makes more sense. i personally took the fact that i could reel both ways to heart and decided that while i felt more comfortable casting and reeling in moving baits with a right hand retreive, it made much more sense to use a left hand retreive when fishing slowly on the bottom and flipping and pitching. i can engage the reel with little to no movement and be ready for that surprise "falling" hit. and as mentioned above.... it has certainly helped with fatigue when i was cranking a point for 40 minutes to set it down and change hands and carolina rig. it gives me a break and i personally think - an advantage. Quote
Scruffy Posted July 25, 2009 Author Posted July 25, 2009 Great post Kikstand, i agree with what you said. Lesson learned here, but i'm going to keep it and just learn to live with it. I'm starting to get used to casting with my right and just switching hands to reel. But if i can learn to cast with my left hand that'd be even better. First i need to get used to using a baitcaster lol, i'm still not very good at it. I think i put too much line on becuase the line always gets stuck under the other line on the spool. I'm still learning all of this, but someday i'll be as wise as all of you. here's hoping Quote
kikstand454 Posted July 25, 2009 Posted July 25, 2009 lol..nah im not wise. way better anglers on here than me. i do like that i figured out how to use both though. and it also has helped me in getting some fine gear. left hand retrieve reels are the first to go on sale and typically the last to sell out. i got my quantum tour edition 7.1 last year for $99. it was 269 normally i think. by using different rods with differrent retrieves, i think it helps me focus more on the technique im going for too. just a thought. id probably learn to throw right and reel right with the reel you have now like everyone else. then.... later on when you get a few more reels going... maybe see if you can go back to casting right and reeling left. its a neat trick. Quote
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