Right vs. Left hand retrieve ?? 2024
dan94 reply :
How should a dominant right handed person hold and retrieve (baitcasting) ? Im dominant with my right hand but i retrieve left both spinning and casting outfits. Why do some anglers reel left with a spinning rod and then reel right with a casting ??
Scott F reply :
There is no right way or wrong way. Do what feels comfortable to you.
For many years, almost all reels available only had the reel handle on the right side so that's what everyone used. Today, many reels come in both versions so we have the luxury of being able to choose whichever you prefer.
NorthwestBasser reply :
When I first started using a baitcaster I bought a right handed retrieve because all the pros used them, for the most part. I thought that was the way it was done. And it worked fine at first, but as I started using it for different techniques I found it impossible to successfully perform the correct cadence and retrieve speeds. So I bought a left handed reeland haven't looked back, all my reels are now left hand retrieve. Find what works for you, comfort is key for the long days of tournament fishing and fun fishing for that matter.
moguy1973 reply :
I have all left hand retrieve reels. I cast with my right hand and I can immediately start reeling without having to switch hands. I can work the rod much better in my right hand too. Personal preference though.
IndianaFinesse reply :
It is entirely personal preference, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
End of story.
Raul reply :
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum, get it right: there is no such thing as the "right way" , it a matter of how you feel comfortable, I'm right handed an all my reels got the handle on the right side.
islandbass reply :
Raul is right. Everyone is different.
However with that said, let's get one thing clear. A “right-handed” baitcaster is now labeled as such because it is for a right-hand dominant person and vice versa for a “left-handed” reel.
What it does mean is that a right-handed casting reel is labeled this way because the angler’s right hand is going to turn the crank regardless of the hand dominance of the angler.
I made the “mistake” (it really wasn’t one) of buying my an RH casting reel because I assumed since, I’m right-hand dominant, this should be for me. It was awkward and uncomfortable but I trained myself to use to make me a better-rounded angler. I can now use either but I prefer LH reels.
We can make a general analogy with baseball. A right-handed baseball player will put his mitt on his left hand to catch the ball and use his dominant hand to throw the ball. When we cast, in essence, we are throwing the lure. So theoretically, a right-hand dominant person should (key word should) feel more comfortable with a LH. There are of course always exceptions. For example, if they learned with RH casting reels since they were young, it is already ingrained in them. Also, even in baseball, some right-handed players actually are more comfortable batting the opposite way.
Bottom line? Try both. Unless you are ambidextrous one or the other is bound to feel more comfortable to you.
It makes me wonder if the inventor of the casting reel was left handed, lol.
Raul, glad to see you’re still here!
-ib
NHBull reply :
Most people can retrieve with either hand, but most cast with right are dominant.
It is all personal, but I can SET, flip and pitch with my right, and retrieve left.
All my spinners and caster are left for me.
What I have noticed is that folks that have fished casters when younger, tend to cast and retrieve with the right. If a spinning rod was the primary tool, left seams to be more natural.
Since there are more R's to try, there is still a tendency to stay R.
Watch TV and most pro's switch hands.
That said....
When working with youth that are learning to cast, they have no memory or tendency except they tend to cast R.........most of these youth will naturally retrieve L.
IMHO, L hand reels will overtake R in yrs to come........
BassWhole! reply :
Are we really doing this again?
fissure_man reply :
Casting and reeling with the same hand is best, but not everyone has the skill/coordination to manage swapping hands. For these troglodytes, it’s easier keep each hand focused on a specific task to avoid confusion. No worries – although they’re technically wrong, the disadvantage is minor. It’s best not to give them too hard a time about it and just enjoy catching an average of 6.43% more fish by using the correct gear.
BassWhole! reply :
On 7/6/2017 at 6:51 PM, NHBull said:IMHO, L hand reels will overtake R in yrs to come........
I will wager any amount against that.
bigfruits reply :
i am right handed and switched to all left handed reels several years ago and haven't looked back. it doesn't matter, use what you like, but I find its better to work the baits with my dominant hand/arm. better feel and control that way in my experience.
Jaderose reply :
Hand switcher with both types of reels. It is a natural part of my cast and happens before the lure hits the water. I can flip and pitch with my left so that's covered too. Do what feels right to you...there IS NO RIGHT WAY.
david in va reply :
I WOULD TRUELY like to see a right handed guy reeling in a 8 lb BASS WITH HIS LEFT HAND
Look out when he breaks water
I have fished that was so long with spin casters I am much better with the left hand setting the hook
Pro Logcatcher reply :
I feel the most comfortable reeling with my left hand for both spinning and baitcasting reels. However, I forced myself to learn how to use both.
pondbassin101 reply :
I started off fishing with a spinning reel with the handle on the left and then moved on to LH baitcasters. I've tried fishing with RH caster, and I simply cannot work the lure properly plus it feels completely unnatural.
broke4bass reply :
I use LH reels mostly on my baitcasters. I got a few RH reels to give my right hand a break from holding the rod when I need to. Currently practicing casting/pitching with rod in left hand for if I ever need to. I wish baitcaster worked like spinning reels where I could just swap which side I reeled on.
mllrtm79 reply :
I taught myself both when learning a baitcaster, but find the hookset is more comfortable/natural when I have the rod in my right hand, so I just sold my last rh one over the weekend. It's all in what is comfortable overall for each person.
scbassin reply :
Didn't anyone ever tell you that that left handed people are the chosen people. All my reels are left handed.
walpy reply :
I right-reel on spinning, when I went to learn on a baitcaster I got a right-handed but I cast with my right as well and hated switching hands.. so I learned to use a left-handed reel and I'm happy with it.
sully420 reply :
On 7/6/2017 at 6:51 PM, NHBull said:Most people can retrieve with either hand, but most cast with right are dominant.
It is all personal, but I can SET, flip and pitch with my right, and retrieve left.
All my spinners and caster are left for me.
What I have noticed is that folks that have fished casters when younger, tend to cast and retrieve with the right. If a spinning rod was the primary tool, left seams to be more natural.
Since there are more R's to try, there is still a tendency to stay R.
Watch TV and most pro's switch hands.
That said....
When working with youth that are learning to cast, they have no memory or tendency except they tend to cast R.........most of these youth will naturally retrieve L.
IMHO, L hand reels will overtake R in yrs to come........
This is my Theory on this subject as well. Where I grew up you pretty much have a spinning set up put in your hands from day one and they tend to just come left hand retrieve so when I stepped up to a baitcaster left hand just felt natural. And for the amount of flipping and pitching I do it seems to work well
bigfruits reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 12:51 AM, david in va said:I WOULD TRUELY like to see a right handed guy reeling in a 8 lb BASS WITH HIS LEFT HAND
done it. 20 lb stripers and plenty of 10lb + bluefish too. did I mention the shovelnose shark? all with my left hand turning the crank. its incredible.
Ads7633 reply :
I bought my first baitcaster when I was about 12. At the time I didn't know any better so I just used my logic, "if I want to cast right handed I should reel with my left". So I bought a lefty reel and haven't looked backed. I don't think I could even teach myself how to do it the "right" way now. So just do whatever is comfortable! Also I do think there are advantages over not switching hands after casting, like being able to engage the reel quicker.
dan94 reply :
maybe the guy who invented baitcasters was dominant left handed and put the retrieve on the right side for himself and when he sold his idea off to companies they were too dumb at the time to flip the gears on the left side to make a left handed reel, or just totally oblivious to that idea and because of that people had no choice to learn that way regardless of what hand they were dominant with because that was unfortunately the only way available at the time.
GrumpyOlPhartte reply :
I say put the handle on top and reel like you're churning butter ... With either hand. Wouldn't need the endless debate! Well, except for which direction to rotate. Hmm. I gotta work on this some more. Uh, never mind.
dan94 reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 5:26 AM, GrumpyOlPhartte said:I say put the handle on top and reel like you're churning butter ... With either hand. Wouldn't need the endless debate! Well, except for which direction to rotate. Hmm. I gotta work on this some more. Uh, never mind.
lmao
GrumpyOlPhartte reply :
@bigfruits: I would love to see me reel in an eight-pound bass, period! ?
bigfruits reply :
sounds like its time for a road trip to FL, GrumpyOlPhartte. pick me up on the way, im right off of 95.
NHBull reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 12:51 AM, david in va said:I WOULD TRUELY like to see a right handed guy reeling in a 8 lb BASS WITH HIS LEFT HAND
Look out when he breaks water
I have fished that was so long with spin casters I am much better with the left hand setting the hook
All day long......go for strippers and Blues every other week
Scott F reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 9:24 AM, NHBull said:All day long......go for strippers and Blues every other week
My wife doesn't let me go for strippers anymore. She does let me listen to the Blues while I STRIPER fish!
NHBull reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 9:56 AM, Scott F said:My wife doesn't let go for strippers anymore. She does let me listen to the Blues while I STRIPER fish!
Senior moment......fat fingers....or Freudian slip 
Bassun reply :
lol - If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this debate I would have a few more LH reels. 
I 100% agree that it "seems" most common that people tend to reel left handed if they started with spinning gear, and right handed if they started with casting gear. Which makes me ponder -- why, if "right handed" retrieve is the "better" way would so many use a left hand crank on a spinning reel when you can swap the crank from one side to the other... if "right" is better wouldn't everyone just swap to a right hand retrieve on the reels where they can swap sides?
I get that many of the casting reels are designed as RH only retrieves, so I can understand better how that would start you out reeling with the wrong, ahem, I mean "right" hand, lol. But now days, you have plenty of offerings in either configuration so pick what works for you. Whether there is an actual advantage of one over the other is going to be completely offset by your comfort level using one style vs the other. If you feel clunky reeling / casting with one hand vs the other - then swap. Don't get caught up in what is right or wrong, do what feels most natural and you will have better success.
MIbassyaker reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 5:26 AM, GrumpyOlPhartte said:I say put the handle on top and reel like you're churning butter ... With either hand. Wouldn't need the endless debate! Well, except for which direction to rotate. Hmm. I gotta work on this some more. Uh, never mind.
Clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Johnbt reply :
"tend to reel left handed if they started with spinning gear, and right handed if they started with casting gear"
I've seen a lot of that, too. I started with right handed casting reels many years ago, but now prefer left handed ones. Sure, I've used a lot of saltwater spinning reels during the past 35 years and still use them with the crank on the left side, but it just seems to work better for me when I lift the fish with the rod in my strong hand and reel down. Lift and reel, lift and reel. I don't winch fish, not even something like my biggest bluefish off the beach - 17.5#.
Of course, maybe I'm slightly left handed. My father was right handed, but batted and golfed lefty. Bunch of uncles and cousins are purely left handed, so maybe I'm touched with it too.
Maybe it would all be different for me if the old freshwater casting reels I grew up on weren't about as crude and clunky as the metal rods they were mounted on in the '50s.
Further North reply :
On 7/7/2017 at 12:51 AM, david in va said:I WOULD TRUELY like to see a right handed guy reeling in a 8 lb BASS WITH HIS LEFT HAND
Look out when he breaks water
I have fished that was so long with spin casters I am much better with the left hand setting the hook
How about 20 lb. musky?
...when that big girl comes outta the water it makes an 8 lb bass look like...well...dinner...
On 7/7/2017 at 1:09 AM, Pro Logcatcher said:I feel the most comfortable reeling with my left hand for both spinning and baitcasting reels. However, I forced myself to learn how to use both.
Same here. Learned to cast a fly lefty too. I suck at it, compared to right handed casting...but there's time when I want the angle.
Steveo-1969 reply :
On 7/6/2017 at 10:37 PM, reason said:Are we really doing this again?
Yup. Why search the forum for the 63 other posts about this topic when you can start a new one?
Further North reply :
I saw two thoughts on "why" recently. Both make sense, could be either, neither or both...
QuoteThe Old English style of casting right, retrieving right, was to keep the fish always on the main strong arm. We do it wrong by switching hands as soon as the fish is hooked. the rod is placed into the left hand only once the fish itself has put itself on the reel, then the fish is played on the reel with the main hand controlling the reel. That way the fish is always being controlled by the main hand, first by the rod then the reel till it is landed then released or capture with the main hand.
...and...
QuoteThere is a logical reason the bait casting reel had the handle on the right side.
I grew up fishing with what we now call knuckle busters; bait casting reels that the handle was always engaged with the spool, no free spool. Most people being right handed held the pistol grip short handle rod by their dominate hand, the reel handle pointed up allowing one handed wrist action to cast the rod, the thumb controlling the spool, the handles spinning freely with the spool shaft riding on a fixed bearing/bushing on the opposite downward facing side plate. If the handles were pointed downward they would hit your shirt sleeve or forearm. Free spool reels that disengage the reel handle like Ambassaduer 500 that came out in the early 60's eliminated the need for the handle to be kept upright. Trigger grip long handle rods in the 70's promote using a 2 handed casting motion in lieu of the 1 hand wrist casting motion. The combination of free spool reels and trigger grip long handle rods made casting right or left handed optional and reel mfr's started offering left hand bait casting reels to fill the demand.
Nothing to do with fly fishing. Left hand reels were standard for spinning reels.
Tom
Scott F reply :
After watching 2 different MLF tournaments over the weekend, I noticed that EVERY one of the 12(?) pro anglers in these 2 events cast their bait casters with the right hand, moved the rod to the left hand and cranked with the right. Using a spinning rod, only Jacob Wheeler held the rod in his left hand. All the others held their spinning rods in their right hand.
Russ E reply :
I am Left handed, but can not use a left handed reel. it feels backwards to me.
cast with left hand andcrank with right hand.
only drawback to this is when fishing soft plastics and jigs on baitcasters, I always re position left hand so I can feel the line with my left index finger. while still cranking with right hand.
been doing this for 30 years. never really thought about it, until a fishing friend noticed what I was doing and questioned it.
mcfishing620 reply :
I reel with my left hand for spinning and right for baitcast because it just feels the most natural. Can't explain why, it just does. Something that really helped me a lot considering this is I taught myself to cast left handed when using my baitcast. I am just as accurate in any situation with my left hand as I am my right hand. Being ambidextrous is very beneficial, especially when fishing out of a small boat, or shore fishing with trees all in your casting area.
RPreeb reply :
Very dominant right handed man. I cast a baitcaster with the right hand, and it just feels natural to reel with the right too. I don't find that switching hands is really that big a deal.
However, since I've spent far more time with spinning gear, for that I feel awkward even pantomiming a right hand reel. I open the bail, cast with both hands (but with my right hand on the rod with my fingers straddling the reel shank in my normal retrieve position), close the bail with my left hand, then retrieve with the left. I've landed 10+ pound jacks and snappers, as well as a few nice sized barracudas on spinning gear. My Shimano Spheros spinning reel can be switched from left to right in a few seconds, but I've never felt any desire to try it right handed.
NYWayfarer reply :
On 8/6/2017 at 1:00 AM, RPreeb said:Very dominant right handed man. I cast a baitcaster with the right hand, and it just feels natural to reel with the right too. I don't find that switching hands is really that big a deal.
However, since I've spent far more time with spinning gear, for that I feel awkward even pantomiming a right hand reel. I open the bail, cast with both hands (but with my right hand on the rod with my fingers straddling the reel shank in my normal retrieve position), close the bail with my left hand, then retrieve with the left. I've landed 10+ pound jacks and snappers, as well as a few nice sized barracudas on spinning gear. My Shimano Spheros spinning reel can be switched from left to right in a few seconds, but I've never felt any desire to try it right handed.
Ditto. Bait-casters right, spinning reel left for this right handed man.
I would have never even thought about switching my spinning gear from left to right until I read this thread. And I still won't
fishnkamp reply :
My take is a little different. I reel with my left with a spinning reel.
For baitcasters I use both left and right handed reels. If the lure I am throwing is one that I just cast and crank than I prefer to use a right handed reel. I will switch the rod to my left hand and retrieve with my right. I do this with lures like crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and buzzbaits.
Any lure that I am going to cast and use the rod to move the bait, like a carolina rig, a texas rigged creature bait or worm, any jig and trailer, as well as a jerkbait, than I prefer to use a left handed reel.
Doing this does several things that benefit me. One thing it does for me is I have the rod in my right hand at all times (my dominate and stronger hand/arm) so if a fish hits the bait on the fall I am better ready to respond. Secondly my dominate hand is dragging, hopping or jerking the bait so I am still better prepared to respond. My left hand is just keeping up with the slack line. Lastly I have been making my living as a mechanic for over 35 years. As a result my hands can cramp up and by changing back and forth between left handed and right handed reels I can avoid the cramps. This makes my day go much more enjoyable. It is rare that I am fishing with less than 4 different baits tied on rods sitting on my boats deck. These will regularly include baits good for covering different part of the water column and different structure..
3crows reply :
On 7/6/2017 at 9:08 AM, dan94 said:How should a dominant right handed person hold and retrieve (baitcasting) ? Im dominant with my right hand but i retrieve left both spinning and casting outfits. Why do some anglers reel left with a spinning rod and then reel right with a casting ??
No expert here at all. However, when I do use a spinning rod and reel, rare, I cast right and retrieve left. But, with a bait caster I may cast with either hand but reel in right. I may cast overhead and side and roll casts with my right hand and switch hands while the lure is in flight. Or, for flipping and pitching, I cast with my left hand. In all cases I reel with my right hand.
What is correct, beats me, but I have no intention of changing and would never purchase a left hand retrieve bait caster just because I do not want one. But that is just my preference. While I am right handed, I can shoot left or right, mostly shotguns left, handguns either and can do any casting with either hand just about as well.
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