left handed vs right handed reels.

Hello.....My name is Art........and I'm a 3 step Righty.....have been my whole life 

Maybe I'm in the denial stage because I don't recall losing a fish from switching hands.  If they hit on the drop you just thumb on the the spool and set the hook. I developed a habit of casting and keeping my left hand on the engagement lever so I can drop it into gear and crank.  So long as I keep the tip up and pressure on while swapping hands its not a problem and usually a pretty quick seamless transfer. Of course when I pick up a spinning rod I crank with my left.  Its just the way I was taught, works for me and too lazy to change.

hey john good thing you can cast left, i wish i could., at the end of every september i get "fishing elbow" in my right arm from casting to and catching so many stripers!  i plug with spinning tackle.
as for conventional tackle, i am right handed but i prefer left handed reels, i have little avet and a medium sized one.

I did a quick internet search on the topic and found this...

http://www.sea-ex.com/recreational1/images/leftisright.htm

Most of the article is about why right-handed people want the crank of their spinning reels on the left side.  Evidently, it used to be that right handed  spinning reels used to have the crank on the right side as well, but in the 60's and 70's the trend reversed and right-handed fishers started using left-handed spinning reels.  Now of course spinning reels switch from left to right handed with ease so you don't actual buy a left or right handed spinning reel.

However, they did have one bit of insight as to why many of us switch hands with baitcasters...

Look closely at this baitcaster or plug reel casting grip. It is definitely not the best way to hold such an outfit while retrieving line, striking or playing a fish. Some people do hold their baitcasters this way for those operations, but most of them are relatively inexperienced or have never encountered big, strong fish on this style of tackle. The fact is, this "pistol-style" casting grip is far too weak and inefficient for serious hook setting and fish fighting. If you don't believe that, go out in the backyard right now, tie a line to something solid and try pulling on a plug outfit (especially a single-handed one) using that grip...

The grip most of us prefer when retrieving line or working a lure with a baitcaster is the so-called "palming" grip; with a hand wrapped around the non-handle end plate of the reel and several fingers extending forward, under the foregrip. This is a comfortable, effective and reasonably powerful grip. However, in true heavyweight applications - such as when targeting extra powerful fish like big barramundi, heavyweight Murray cod or Papuan black bass - it might be necessary to go for an even stronger grip, by wrapping the non-reeling hand right around the foregrip itself, in front of the reel.

Regardless which of these options you choose - the "palming" grip or the "power" hold - it's obvious that a change in grip is necessary after each cast with a baitcaster... And the best way to quickly and efficiently achieve this shift is to smoothly pass the outfit from one hand to the other.

Brian

I think that article was a good one. that guy is way too reasonable to be an american.
good thing he is australian.

I have one kid that is ambidextrous. figuring out which hand to use is a pain for him.
when he was little I saw him use either hand and finally I asked him which hand he
wrote with.  he said he wrote "m"'s with his left hand, "n"'s with his right. 

the other one is super lateralized. I guess it's a genetic thing.

well bsteves you should be detecting signs of whether you need to have left handed
abus around the house pretty soon!

J

because mol posted posted about this one and bsteves redirected him here, I might note that
I converted one of my right hand abus to non-level wind (plus a steel pinion, yeah!), and also
a left hand abu to non-level wind (no left handed stainless steel pinions availlable,  ).
In the case of a non-level wind reel, I seem to be ambidextrous.
either way I need to move my casting hand (right) to either retrieve, or level the incoming line.

how confusing!

spinning: left hand retrieve.

baitcasting w/ level wind: left hand retrieve. I do move my right hand a little still here, from cast to palm.

conventional, no level wind: casting hand has to move no matter what. can use either left or right
handed retrieve. probably should stick to left hand retrieve.

J