A yes or no Poll

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Ken S
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A yes or no Poll

Post by Ken S »

How many here use a bait caster that casts and then reels with the opposite hand. In other words do you cast with your right and reel with the left,, not counting spinning reels. I've always cast with right and set hook with the left. I find after putting a plate in my left wrist, I don't have as much control setting the hook with it, but can reel fairly good with it. Anybody?
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Neumie
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Neumie »

No*

Baitcaster and Spinning I cast right and reel right. Fly Fishing I cast right and reel with my left.
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Kirk B.
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Kirk B. »

Once reels became easy to get with the handles on the left, that is all I use. I've had too many occasions where fish blew up on the lure when it landed to do it any other way.
Before left hand reels became common, I taught myself to cast with my left hand. I do not want to swap hands after a cast.


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sanantonioyak
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by sanantonioyak »

both fly and spinning, I cast right and reel with my left. no changing hands.
imaoldmanyoungsalt
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by imaoldmanyoungsalt »

yes and no

If the reel is under the rod (spinning/fly) then I cast right, reel left. If the reel is on top of the rod (baitcast/spincast) then I cast right, reel right. When I started fishing spinning reels as a kid, they were all left retrieve and not reversible so I learned to do it that way and it feels awkward to reel them right handed. When I started fly fishing I had that same awkward feeling since the reel hung under the rod. Baitcast and spincast sat above the rod and were almost always right retrieve back then so I learned to use them that way. Switching either way just feels awkward to me now
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JW FunGuy
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by JW FunGuy »

This is interesting. I always wondered what was with all the left handed bait casters in the stores. Way back when I started fishing bass tournaments and throwing a bait caster I was thought to get on the crank as fast as possible and switching took too much time so I learned to do it that way.
So now I guess everything fly, spin and bait is cast right reel left.
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impulse
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by impulse »

Cast and retrieve with the rod in my strong hand and the crank in my weak hand. That way, I don't have to switch hands when the bait hits the water. For me, that means left hand retrieve on all my rods- fly, spinning, casting and trolling.

I didn't enjoy using baitcasters until Shimano Bantams came with LH retrieve. Ambassadeurs always had a LH option (that I remember), but they're a lot heavier duty and clunkier than the Bantams. I still have some mid '80s vintage BMP251SG reels in immaculate condition.

I even have line counter trolling reels with LH retrieve nowadays. And if Penn (or another reputable company) ever offers a huge Senator with LH, I'll buy one for sharking at the beach. So far, their biggest LH Senator is the 4/0.
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Ron Mc
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Ron Mc »

My daughter changes hands to both cast and wind with right hand on all tackle.
Have to keep her spinning reels set up for RHW.
Image (she's all grown now and wrestling for Lady Aggies)

I was writing with both hands in 1st grade, and the teacher rubber-banded the pencil to my right. There's no rhyme or reason to my preferences and muscle memory, throw left, bat right, etc. Like most south paws, don't really have a dominant hand.
So I grew up using all tackle the way it came off the shelf, casting and winding with either arm/hand.

What most people don't get with fly casting until they begin using haul, is that your line hand is more important than you rod hand, because that's where you feel the rod load through the line, and where you modulate timing and power. Night fishing, vertical back-cast, change-direction cast - all need haul, and it should become natural in all casts.
I did notice catching 30+" Kenai rainbows with guide's rod, I can't wind as fast with LH as RH.
In general, my left arm is power, and my right hand is finesse.
CopanoCruisin
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by CopanoCruisin »

No
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shoffer
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by shoffer »

No.
Cast one-handed with the right arm, put the butt of rod in the left hand, and reel with the right hand.
bigred90gt
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by bigred90gt »

I am very much left handed. I cast and control the rod with my left hand, and I crank with my right hand, regardless of the type of reel it is. I grew up fishing with a spinning reel and my dad always had it set up that way. Anything else feels unnatural to me. When I got my first bait caster, I had seen where people would use them opposite of how they set up spinners, and it never made sense. I messed around with a left hand retrieve bait caster in the store for about 5 seconds, then bought a right hand retrieve. I honestly am not sure I could even make a decent cast with my right hand, and switching back and forth between casting and reeling just seems like a cumbersome and unnecessary step.
David0408
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by David0408 »

Yes, I cast with my right and reel with my left. And I’m left handed!


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super8mm
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by super8mm »

Yes, I am right handed and I cast with my right but reel with my left. I do this with bait casting, spinning and fly rod
DHardy
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by DHardy »

No. Cast and control rod right handed and reel left handed for baitcasters and spinning. I’m right handed and prefer to set hook, control bait action and cast with dominant hand. I never understood why someone would cast and then switch hands. I recently talked a hardcore fishing buddy to switch to left handed baitcasters and after a few outings he agreed that the switch is useless.
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shoffer
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by shoffer »

No. Throw baitcaster with right and reel with right.
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Hirsch
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Hirsch »

I use a left-handed baitcaster. They can be hard to find in stores.
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Hirsch
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Hirsch »

I use a left-handed baitcaster. They can be hard to find in stores. I cast and fight with my dominant arm (right).
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Rob R
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by Rob R »

Late to the party but no I do the opposite. It seems pretty easy and I’ve never thought about it but when I use my spinning reels I’m comfortable using a left handed retrieve so it would make sense using a left retrieve baitcaster. I’ve never considered it until this year. I’m right handed but when I would play ice hockey I always shot left handed.
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spiny norman
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by spiny norman »

I cast left and reel right on all gear. Fly, spin and bait.
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karstopo
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by karstopo »

I’m Right handed, right hand dominant. Cast baitcasting rigs right handed, reel right handed. Never tried a left hand retrieve baitcasting reel. Never really tried casting a baitcasting rig left handed either. Hard to imagine I could control the spool from incurring a major backlash when attempting a left hand cast. I’m scared to try as I don’t want to mess up my reel.

Spinning reels and rigs, mostly cast right, reel left handed. I pretty much suck at using spinning reels. Poor casting accuracy plagues my casts, I never feel comfortable using them. They feel weird and unbalanced in my hands. Baitcasting rigs feel like an extension of my arm and perfectly natural.

Fly tackle, I cast with right or left hand, reel left handed, but seldom put fish on the reel. Fish have to put themselves on the reel and I’m not going to make it easy for them. Rod hand could be either, generally I like to at some point put the rod in my right hand during the heart of the fight, but often initiate the hook set and begin the fight with the rod in my left hand. I prefer to net with my right hand so I put the rod in the left hand for the netting, most of the time. I let the wind and situation dictate which hand I’ll cast with and casting a fly rod left handed feels natural and actually doesn’t hurt at all considering the condition of each shoulder. Casting right handed doesn’t generally hurt in a bad, make me sick way, but in a background minor way, but once in a while something more sharp in the pain scale happens. I cast a little better or with less effort from the left side. I’d mostly prefer to cast left handed at this point, but then the wind can have other plans.
txanalogkd
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Re: A yes or no Poll

Post by txanalogkd »

Yes, I cast with right and set w/left. It makes sense not to switch and I tried reprograming my brain but got frustrated. I actually gave my left handed reel away to my nephew.

Off subject. My son is left handed but batted right. When he played short stop, people would say that it was odd but he was good at it.

The brain can reprogramed.
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