Working jerkbaits: which hand do you use? 2025

Micro reply :

For every technique I fish with a baitcaster, I hold the rod with my left hand, palming my reel, ans crank with my right. Cranking, ripping, worming, whatever. My grip almost never changes.

But I can't seem to jerk a jerkbait well with my left hand. I always seem to make mushy jerks that seem too slow and don't make the bait do neat tricks. If I switch to my right hand, I can make nice, crisp, line slapping jerks. It's enough for me to want to get a dedicated jerkbait rod with a left hand reel.

Am I nuts or does anyone else have this problem?

skillet reply :

I hold rod and palm the reel same as you. I am so right handed that I have a hard time scratching my arse with my left hand :-[. I guess out of necessity have learned to use jerk bait as well as walk-the-dog type baits with left hand...

skillet

TommyBass reply :

I dont generally fish jerkbaits but I do fish topwater plugs with the same "snapping" motion. I am right handed and also fish as you described but I don't seem to have that problem. I reel right handed on baitcasters and left handed on spinning reels. Maybe doing it both ways has helped trained me to be a little more ambidextrious. I would say a little practice could get you in shape and save the money on a opposite handed reel.... that or use a spinning reel in which you can change the handle on.

5bass reply :

It was a problem for me in the past as well. I just had to practice a lot then practice some more. I used to chill on the couch and practice the twitching.(then we got a cat and that came to a halt) Another thing that may help is to get a 7.1 reel that picks up a bunch of line fast, that will at least help keep your line tighter.

SudoomFisher reply :

When twitching jerkbaits are you supposed to snap to the right and left or just any kind of snap on slack line. I can snap it to the right while holding the rod with left hand but cant snap it back to the left.

Micro reply :

When I use my right hand, I can't palm the reel. So I grip the rod by the butt with my index finger around the trigger. I find when I do use my left hand, I do better holding the rod the same way. It's just about the only time I don't palm the reel.

bass or bass ? reply :

I use whichever hand is not the reeling hand. Left with baitcast, right with spinning. Happy fishing.

~B.A.S.S.~N.A.F.C.~BoatU.S.~

Red reply :

i am right handed and i use all lefty BC reels. for me, i want the rod in my "good" hand. i cant do much with my left hand, reeling is just reeling, but the rod is how you set the hook, work a bait etc etc, i want those things to be done with my dominant hand.

Cliff

jig reply :

x2 what red said

Micro reply :

What Red says makes sense. The argument that you need your power hand to crank may be valid when you're hauling in a tuna, but a bass - not so much. I know other right handers that use lefty reels.

burleytog reply :

That's a rather personal question.

Dan: reply :

Lol, Burley. I was waiting for that one.

Micro, that is one of the reasons I chose to get a left hand retrieve baitcaster when I bought my first one. I fish a lot of soft plastic jerkbaits and topwaters so I felt like I needed to keep my more dexterous hand on the reel to allow me to better impart action on the lures. I've used right handed reels but I never felt like I was in control of the bait--any type of bait.

Bassin_Fin@tic reply :

Quote
i am right handed and i use all lefty BC reels. for me, i want the rod in my "good" hand. i cant do much with my left hand, reeling is just reeling, but the rod is how you set the hook, work a bait etc etc, i want those things to be done with my dominant hand.
Cliff

X3 have never been quite able to figure out why all bc are made with a right hand retrive.I can't even eat with my left hand much less work a bait properly.

drmnbig reply :

Even though I can't hardly do anything with my left hand I can twitch a jerkbait with it no problem. I even move the handle over to the right hand side on my spinning reels because I can't crank the handle with my left hand.

jig reply :

I , probably like most people in their younger days started off with a spinning outfit.So when I started to use a baitcaster I wanted everything to be the same as it was as the spinning outfit.I really have never understood why people who reel with the left hand with a spinning rod go and get a right handed baitcaster.Personally I have no problem reeling with my right hand but I have no feeling or "finesse" using the rod in my left hand .

CFFF 1.5 reply :

I throw my jerkbaits and most of my topwater with the exception of frogs on a spinning reel. It puts the rod in my right hand so I can have better control of the bait.

SimonSays reply :

Quote

Quote
i am right handed and i use all lefty BC reels. for me, i want the rod in my "good" hand. i cant do much with my left hand, reeling is just reeling, but the rod is how you set the hook, work a bait etc etc, i want those things to be done with my dominant hand.
Cliff

X3 have never been quite able to figure out why all bc are made with a right hand retrive.I can't even eat with my left hand much less work a bait properly.

x4 Nicely put Bassin ;D

I can't figure it out also..I've tried with a righty and could never set the hook properly

drmnbig reply :

Quote
I , probably like most people in their younger days started off with a spinning outfit.So when I started to use a baitcaster I wanted everything to be the same as it was as the spinning outfit.I really have never understood why people who reel with the left hand with a spinning rod go and get a right handed baitcaster.Personally I have no problem reeling with my right hand but I have no feeling or "finesse" using the rod in my left hand .

I on the other hand (no pun intended) used a Zebco 33 growing up therefore I always reeled with the right hand and twitched and whatnot with the left. Maybe this is why I HAVE to reel with the right hand.

roadwarrior reply :

Quote
What Red says makes sense. The argument that you need your power hand to crank may be valid when you're hauling in a tuna, but a bass - not so much. I know other right handers that use lefty reels.

Micro,

Your statement is simple, clear and makes perfect sense.

The comparison of saltwater and freshwater fishing is a

point well made.

For those that are curious, this is the other side of the story:

From: George Welcome

Re: Why is the reel handle on the right

Let's get technical, as there are in fact reasons, not just some lame holdover from days past that put the handles where they are.

What will move the fish during retrieval is placed to the strong hand!

A baitcast is designed to be used as a winch, so it is the reel that retrieves the fish. Hence if you are right handed the handle is in your right hand.

A spinning reel is designed to pick up unloaded or loose line, not retrieve the fish. Hence it is the rod that does the retrieval, so it is the rod that is in your strong hand. If you are right handed then the pole goes to the right hand.

8-)

Raul reply :

With my left hand, nope, I ain 't left handed.

simplejoe reply :

Good Topic.

I'm left handed and never understood left handed reels, I always thought they would help right handed people not me. I use my left hand for everything, I can cast right handed but not that good I use it more for flipping into a tree 10-15 ft away not a long cast.

Paul Roberts reply :

Man, at first I thought this thread was going to be one induced by a severe case of cabin fever LOl.

When I first started with a bc I worked in a tackle shop and had the opportunity to try both. I'm right handed and chose a "standard" LH retrieve reel, simply because it felt more comfortable, nothing more than that -even though I'd been a spinning user for so long. I really don't know why I chose the LH retrieve.

I've wanted to try a RH retrieve bc reel because it seems to make the most sense, in terms of rod arm strength and coordination, and the having to switch hands in mid-cast -I thumb the spool with my left after switching.

A couple springs ago I got tendonitis in my right elbow and had to switch my spinning stuff over left. My, that was a difficult adjustment -took a while to adapt. And I found jerks the hardest to feel comfortable with.

I also found it difficult to work a jerk with my left, casting to my right -that is, making those tugs back-handed. With my right hand I was comfortable making those tugs forehanded or backhanded.

Now, after that season fishing as a lefty, I can use either hand, but my right is still better at fine manipulation, and confidence.

farmpond1 reply :

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That's a rather personal question.

I was waiting to see how long it would take for this entry. ;D

roadwarrior reply :

Quote
...but my right is still better at fine manipulation, and confidence.

I don't understand "fine manipulation". The retrieve

is some combination or degree of twitch-twitch, jerk-

jerk or long pull-pause.

Regarding the basic question, I retrieve with my right

hand, but use both hands to cast and work the reel.

The left hand in this case performs most of the work,

the right hand supplements the pull and contributes

to control.

8-)

bass wrangler569 reply :

Quote

Quote
That's a rather personal question.

I was waiting to see how long it would take for this entry. ;D

X2, When I read the title of the thread I was sure the mods were going to need liberal application of the delete button.

Micro reply :

I had to word the title very carefully! It's a family site .

What RW posted (George Welcome's words) also make sense. I've baitcast so long that cranking one with my left hand seems bizarre. So I'm pretty intent on staying on the traditional course.

But I can make more precise movements with my right hand. I think jerking a bait requires that quick, snappy movement that always seems mushy with my left hand. Look at how a jerkbait reacts in the water when you snap it, and when you just accelerate it.

J Francho reply :

Doesn't matter what hand I use, but my JB rod has a RH retrieve baitcaster on it.

quanjig reply :

Being a lefty I always felt more comfortable with my dominant hand doing the heavy lifting. A rh baitcaster only made sense. Conversly, I use to fish my spinny stuff lh. I did make the change on my spinnys to rh and it was an easy adjustment. Maybe us leftys are more adaptible that way!! Not saying you rightys can't do it, just might take a bit longer!!

bass or bass ? reply :

Being a musician (bassist, hence my posting name), I'm acustomed to being ambidextrous.I use right and left hand baitcast, letf hand retrieve spinning, and right and left hand spincast. I can switch between them without any appreciable difference. Probably has to do with playing music all my life ( bass, guitar, Piano, organ). Happy fishing.

~B.A.S.S.~N.A.F.C.~BoatU.S.~

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Working jerkbaits: which hand do you use? 2025

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