Lefty Or Righty 2024
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
I saw this on another forum and thought I would post one here to see what the demographics of this community are when it comes to reels.
The question is, are you a righty or a lefty? Manufacturers claim that they sell many more right hand retrieve reels than left hand retrieves.
Also, note that in the poll, "right hand dominant" means you cast with your right hand, and "left hand dominant" means you cast with your left hand (in case that was written in a confusing way).
*****This is for casting reels ONLY*****
Djman72 reply :
I am the majority. Right and Right.
My friend only uses left hand retrieve reels. I tried to use his and i just couldnt do it, but he swears by it.
iabass8 reply :
Nvm phone didnt display poll till i cleared
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
On 3/6/2014 at 10:41 AM, iabass8 said:That really doesn't make sense...
Reel manufacturers claim of more righties than lefties pertains to retrieving, not casting.
I cast with my right arm but reel with my left and i am about as right hand dominant as they come.
I meant to say "more righties sold than lefties" rather than "more righties than lefties"... I'll fix that right now.
EDIT: I just retyped it to something else so it makes more sense.
5dollarsplash reply :
Rod in the left hand, reel with the right. Whatever that makes me. Fwiw I throw a baseball right handed but can hit from either side of the plate. Lol.
iabass8 reply :
Gotcha. I would bet that is true though.
mjseverson24 reply :
I can cast with my right or left, I prefer to cast with my right though, and I hold the rod in my left hand, and reel with my right.
Mitch
moguy1973 reply :
Right hand dominant, left hand retrieve....Easier for me to cast with my right and and not have to switch hands to start reeling.
coak reply :
Minority here..........left dominant, right retrieve....same side for me either spinning or casting gear! 
dam0007 reply :
I'm illiterate with my left hand, tried playing guitar for years could never get hang of it. Anyhow been casting righty and reeling lefty all my life. Never understood the point of rod switching hands.
Banned-99884 reply :
i am Right Dominant, Left retrive. Why use less dominant arm for setting the hook and feeling the bite? never made sense to me...
John G reply :
I am left handed and I always cast with my left and reel with my right.
Xyndifor reply :
On 3/6/2014 at 10:40 AM, Djman72 said:I am the majority. Right and Right.
My friend only uses left hand retrieve reels. I tried to use his and i just couldnt do it, but he swears by it.
I'm right handed and can't do right hand retrieve on baitcasting reels. It just feels funny. It's weird because I can't do anything else lefty. I wish they'd make more lefty baitcasting reels. Seems often times I can't get a reel I want in the gear ratio I want.
Alonerankin2 reply :
I can use left or right... However I do still prefer R/H retrieve
Alpha Male reply :
I feel that I can control the rod better with my right hand so Im switching to all lefty retrieve reels.
brophog reply :
Right hand dominant
Reel right hand
Cast/hold with left hand
As someone mentioned above, I learned this way because it makes casting and spinning gear setups the same. In all likelihood, if companies had offered left handed retrieves back in the day, I probably would have gone the more 'natural' route for a right handed person and cast right handed and reeled left.
Topwaterspook reply :
Right hand dominant, cast with either, left hand retrieve.
masterbass reply :
I'm right handed, but use left retrieve. I started like many on spinning gear and 2 years ago I got my first baitcaster. It was a righty and I never felt comfortable, so I bought a few lefties and never looked back. I think a lot of new baitcaster-users will start with lefties. It seems like a lot of people that are right-handed who use right retrieve probably started using bait casters years ago when lefties weren't quite as available.
.RM. reply :
Powerhand casting/fighting (right handed), left hand cranking....
Crankinstein reply :
On 3/6/2014 at 11:12 AM, moguy1973 said:Right hand dominant, left hand retrieve....Easier for me to cast with my right and and not have to switch hands to start reeling.
+1
new2BC4bass reply :
Right hand dominant
Reel either hand
Cast/hold with either hand
If I had to chose one it would be left hand reel. Grew up that way with spinning reels.
A-Jay reply :
Right hand dominant ~ Reel right hand retrieve.
Over the years I've jacked up both shoulders pretty good so I've learned to cast either way depending on which rotator cuff and medial head is the crankiest.
Incidentally, while learning to cast off the left side. I learned that for me, it's all about technique and not power.
A-Jay
msk reply :
Right handed, reel lefty, prefer to shoot with my right hand but I'm left eye dominant. So there you go!
Todd2 reply :
Right handed, switched to left handed retrieve about 10 years ago. Wish I'd done it 20 years ago.
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
Shocking results, no? Just like the similar thread on the other forum, left side retrieve reels received more votes! 32 votes lefty, 17 righty. That is almost 2 to 1.
Cast_And_Blast reply :
On 3/6/2014 at 11:12 AM, moguy1973 said:Right hand dominant, left hand retrieve....Easier for me to cast with my right and and not have to switch hands to start reeling.
same here. Got tired of switching hands after every cast or pitch or flip.
tomustang reply :
On 3/7/2014 at 1:44 AM, aprw1 said:Shocking results, no? Just like the similar thread on the other forum, left side retrieve reels received more votes! 32 votes lefty, 17 righty. That is almost 2 to 1.
It shows people who frequent forums and take polls are dominate in left hand retreive. It's not going to account for the many more who doesn't. Who knows, active online anglers might have more knowledge about switching hands over others who impulse buy more available right hand models in store
K_Mac reply :
I am right handed and reel with my left. That works best for me. I agree with A-Jay that with some practice and good technique using either hand to cast is a great way to ease the strain of fishing long hours. It can also make getting the bait into the right spot easier.
Lunker Huntin reply :
It's funny that this post was just started because yesterday while watching some flipping videos on YouTube it hit me all of a sudden that the two brand new tournament pro's I just ordered were right handed models. I started to panic because it then dawned on me that what that meant was it's opposite from all my spinning gear that I am used to. This will be my first year trying casting gear so it's all new to me and when I saw right handed I thought yep that's me cause I always cast and hold the rod in my right hand, boy let me tell you I felt like a real DA for that mistake. Luckily I got them from the same company and they told me just send them back and we will exchange them, since I'm deployed and not home to receive them I never got to see them other wise I would have realized when the first one showed up it wouldn't work for me. I agree 100% with a couple of the other post that I'm completely right hand dominate so holding a rod in the left just wouldn't work for me. Thank god lews has both models in lefties or I'd be up the creek without a paddle.
Hooked_On_Bass reply :
Cast with my right hand and retrieve with my left.
Arv reply :
I wonder if this is indicative of the general population of fishermen. I've also seen similar results on other forums, however, it could just be because us left hand crankers are more passionate about the topic providing a voluntary response bias (I think that's the right bias...). I have a hard time believing that companies aren't aware that the majority of fishermen crank with their left hand, as that would put more money in their pockets assuming these polls are accurate, but who knows.
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
On 3/7/2014 at 5:25 AM, Arv said:I wonder if this is indicative of the general population of fishermen. I've also seen similar results on other forums, however, it could just be because us left hand crankers are more passionate about the topic providing a voluntary response bias (I think that's the right bias...). I have a hard time believing that companies aren't aware that the majority of fishermen crank with their left hand, as that would put more money in their pockets assuming these polls are accurate, but who knows.
People say that it isn't a fair representation of the public, and I think that is correct to an extent. I think that more and more people are switching to lefties (since there are more right hand dominant people in the world), so maybe one day lefty reels will be more popular and more prevalent in the industry. Oh, and the right hand retrieve people will get to feel us left hand retrievers' pain! 
Scott F reply :
I'm right handed, cast with my right arm, crank with left or right hand. I carry both left and right handed reels in the boat. No poll option for this.
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
On 3/7/2014 at 6:10 AM, Scott F said:I'm right handed, cast with my right arm, crank with left or right hand. I carry both left and right handed reels in the boat. No poll option for this.
If you were going to get a full line up of either lefty or righty reels, and you had to choose one side or the other, which would you choose?
ColdSVT reply :
Right handed...reel lefty
I do a lot of stuff lefty however. I dad is left handed and i was taught many things left handed lol
stratoliner92 reply :
On 3/6/2014 at 12:32 PM, John G said:I am left handed and I always cast with my left and reel with my right.
Same here. All my friends are right handed and 99% of them cast right and retrieve right ,i don't get changing hands. FWIW when I use spinning or fly rod I use right hand cast and retrieve left 
WiregrassRiverRat reply :
I pitch with my left hand only! when I was learning I was told .. you need to learn both.. knowing that left would be more difficult...but better because you dont have to switch hands.. I learned to do it that way.. and now I dont pitch righty nearly at all... but I cast right then put the rod in my left hand and reel them fish in!
MemphisFF reply :
Natural southpaw throw left reel righty, just feels natural.. I'm in the minority
Scott F reply :
On 3/7/2014 at 6:29 AM, aprw1 said:If you were going to get a full line up of either lefty or righty reels, and you had to choose one side or the other, which would you choose?
Why would I have to choose one or the other? I fished for years casting with my right, cranking with the left. Now I use both and will continue to use both. Switching gives my hands a break.
jignfule reply :
As of todays almost 63% of the reels are lefties, never would have thought that.
bflp3 reply :
I think that is definitely part of it. It seems right caster left crankers are passionate about justifying their position, probably because reel manufacturers continually leave left hand crankers with less options.On 3/7/2014 at 5:25 AM, Arv said:I wonder if this is indicative of the general population of fishermen. I've also seen similar results on other forums, however, it could just be because us left hand crankers are more passionate about the topic providing a voluntary response bias (I think that's the right bias...). I have a hard time believing that companies aren't aware that the majority of fishermen crank with their left hand, as that would put more money in their pockets assuming these polls are accurate, but who knows.
But let's be honest, the reel companies are basing their offerings on sales numbers. If sales of lefty reels don't overcome tooling costs, they aren't going to offer them.
I think preference has a lot to do with what you grew up with. I grew up with spincasters, didn't try spinning reels until shortly before baitcasters, and never fell in love with spinning, so cast right right retrieve feels more natural to me.
Smallmouth Hunter reply :
~61% left hand retrieves... Anyone else surprised?
Fish Murderer 71 reply :
I can cast with both hands (prefer right, but at times I need use a left hand cast), All reels are right hand retrieve, including open face.
shootermcbob reply :
I cast with my right hand on the reel, left hand on bottom of rod. I reel both lefty and righty with baitcasters....I think that makes me....
amphibious
I discovered last summer that I am MUCH more adept at fishing jerkbaits, topwater walking baits reeling lefty. I am also working on pitching with R hand, reeling with L even though I do not do much pitching/flipping from the bank.
I reel spinning reels left handed.
bflp3 reply :
I wonder how many people didn't read your entire post and voted based on spinning reels? You didn't mention this was for casting only until the very end. I know we have a few spinning only people on here.
livetofish28 reply :
I feel on the short end of the stick being left handed dominant and right hand retrieve lol
Tight lines
Andrew
ak47soulja22 reply :
Right and right but can do left and right or right and left. But mostly right and right
BenB54 reply :
Right/right as far as normal casting and bombing lures goes. It's so natural now to switch hands for me that the rod is in my left hand way before the lure ever hits the water. I find it amusing that it confuses people or that they think it takes such an effort or it's so inefficient to switch mid cast. Flipping/pitching is a totally different story, I'm left/right as far as that goes because that's the only time I find it more efficient not to switch hands.
WIGuide reply :
I'm a right dominant and right retrieve. I'm a reel palmer though, so it works for me.
papajoe222 reply :
Baitcaster right hand, spinning reel left. I'd likely reel with my right hand for both, but I learned on a spinning reel with the crank handle on the left and fished that way for years. I tried going to right hand cranking, but it's like patting my head and rubbing my stomach; I can do it one way, but not the other.
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