Who here thinks they have the answer...

This was brought up in another thread but I think it would be interesting to see what people think;

Why do you think that as far as reel design and engineering goes, spinning reels generally have the handle on the left and why casting/conventional reels generally have the handle on the right? There must have been some reasoning and logic applied to the designs so what do you think it is?

To be honest I doubt there was an engineering principle behind it. More likely there was some designer that thought that since most folks are right handed it would be easier to hold the rod with the right HAND( more strength foe fighting a fish), themarketing types probably loved that as it differentiated their product from all those other kinds of reels. Thus started tradition.

I always wondered about that.
By this time in my fishing life, if the reel is under the rod, it better have the crank on the left, reel on top, crank on the right. Anything else (like Alvey's or modded reels) totally screws me up.

Maybe when conventional reels were originally manufactured, they didn't use them for casting...as much as for dropping straight down. Compared to spinning reels which are mainly used to cast for distance....so you'd want to use your dominant arm to cast far & accurate (and most people are right-handed).  I really don't know...just guessing.

Here's my theory...

Say you're right handed... how do you hold a baseball bat?  With your right hand over your left, right?  And it's the opposite if you're left handed.  Either way, your dominant hand is on top and to swing with your dominant hand is on bottom just seems weird.  I'm right handed so when I go to set the hook on a fish or even reel in some line, much like when I swing a baseball bat, I want my right hand above my left. 

Now hold a spinning rod.  If you're right handed your right hand holds the rod and your left hand is on the bottom working the reel.   My dominant hand is on top.

Now hold a casting rod.  If you're right handed your right hand works the reel on top and your left hand holds the rod below.  Again my dominant hand is on top.

Anyway, that's my unproven theory.  I've tried left handed casting reels and I find them very awkward.  Sure casting was fine, but reeling in a lure just seemed odd to me. 

Brian

I think I can reel on either side just fine, but prefer to cast with my right hand.  So I guess im just more comfortable with left handed reels since I dont want to change hands.  Also with a Hobie, gotta keep my left hand free to control the rudder. 

It is easy!

Maurice Jacquemin, the inventor of the Mitchell spinning reel, was LEFT HANDED.

..Also with a Hobie, gotta keep my left hand free to control the rudder.  

Ah.. I get it now.

It is easy!

Maurice Jacquemin, the inventor of the Mitchell spinning reel, was LEFT HANDED.

So then why do most right handed people prefer still left handed spinning reels?   I think the questions is really why aren't "left handed" casting reels the standard for right handed folks?  

I'm sticking to my "dominant hand always over the other" theory (unless you're a Hobie peddler).

 

Interesting, a lot of these theories are similar to what I was thinking but here is what I found on the history of how casting reels began, but not their complete evolution. It may give some more hints to the logic behind their later design though.

I have a very old and dusty fishing encyclopaedia that I got as a gift many years ago. In it, it described that the original "bait casters" were designed and hand made by watchmakers as either custom orders or as one off projects back in the late 1800's in the southern states in order to fish for bass using live bait. The original concept and design was based on the need for a reel that could be loaded with silk line and used to cast a minnow relatively far distances such as approx. 50 feet. Back then it was pretty much cane poles or fly rods. The rods used with the casting reels were very limber and up to 10' long. Though revolutionary and complex compared to their flyfishing counterparts, the reels were a relatively simple design of 1:1 gear ratio, no drag and no spool release. Apparently the method of casting was to strip off the amount of line you though was needed for your cast and either holding it in your left hand in large loops or having it laid out likewise on the ground, you would be able to lob or flip a relatively light bait a far distance. Very similar to fly casting with a stripping apron only here your cast consists of only one motion forward. Unfortunately there was no specific explanation for why the handle was on the right. There was a drawing depicting some casting techniques and based on the fact that the line is held loosely in your left palm and the rod is held in the right hand, I would speculate that prototypes with handles on the left were more prone to having the loose line tangle in the handle during the cast. 

Everything I have , spinning, baitcasting, fly fishing is cast right reel left.
Many moons ago when I was learning to fly fish I ended up starting out with a Pfleuger reel because it was one of he few reel that could be switched to a lefty.
All the hardcore fly fishermen thought I was crazy but it made no sense to me to cast with the right, then switch the rod to my left so I could reel with the right. To this day it still makes no sense to me but many of my friends do it.
I started with a Mitchell-Garcia spinning reel (I think it was the 240 but hell that was over 40 years ago) and got used to reeling with my left hand.
http://www.stripers247.com/phpBB2/showthread.php?t=4699
Oh yea, this was way before Hobie even thought about a mirage drive.
There must be a reason why the rudder control isn't on the right. 

I grew up on the M-G spinning outfits. Still the best reel in my small memory. It became natural to reel left. Fishing along brushy creeks and rivers from shore I can cast with greater accuarcy with my right hand. Tote, lets go up in te high sierra streams this late spring. Got any of those old reels still around?

I had a few G-Ms but I was Dam Quick guy 110,220,280,330,550 those reels still work great only wish they had skirted spools.

You've all lost your cotton pickin minds!

god.... rockfish couldn't get here soon enough......geez lol

if you are casting you have no time for beer, thus the crank is on the left so you can hold the rod with your right.
dropping down with a conventional reel leaves more time for drinking, so the rod is held with left hand and the beer in the right, then when you get a bite, you can spill the beer all over yourself and lose the fish at the same time.

my 2 cents

stoggie

Here's my theory...

Say you're right handed... how do you hold a baseball bat?  With your right hand over your left, right?  And it's the opposite if you're left handed.  Either way, your dominant hand is on top and to swing with your dominant hand is on bottom just seems weird.  I'm right handed so when I go to set the hook on a fish or even reel in some line, much like when I swing a baseball bat, I want my right hand above my left. 

Now hold a spinning rod.  If you're right handed your right hand holds the rod and your left hand is on the bottom working the reel.   My dominant hand is on top.

Now hold a casting rod.  If you're right handed your right hand works the reel on top and your left hand holds the rod below.  Again my dominant hand is on top.

Anyway, that's my unproven theory.  I've tried left handed casting reels and I find them very awkward.  Sure casting was fine, but reeling in a lure just seemed odd to me. 

Brian

Interesting except Hank Aron Held his hands opposite than what is the norm for right hander.  I thinkit was called a cross hitter and he was the last one to ever do it.

OK I am a lefty and use a spinning reel upside down.  The real is above the pole and I hold the pole with my left and crank with my right.  When I started fishing that just felt more natural.  I know its not ideal for the rod, but it just feels right.  Now I am so damn used to it, I cant fish with the reel below, it just feels wrong.

But I digress, its a plot by PETA to cause confusion and disharmony amoung us