Right...or Left? Why?

[PaddyT]

Im pretty ambidextrous (shoot,play pool,kick left side) , can play tennis pretty well with both hands (cant serve for my life left handed)-a fair bit has to do with eye dominance. Anyway the only reel i actually like using with left hand wind is a little Curado100 which i use on the rare occasions i bass fish. I can fish fine with either set up as long as only slow retrieves are needed-for high speed spin i cant wind fast enough -so by default i mainly use right hand wind-i overcome the whole "feel thing" and not having to swap hands during the cast by ccasting left handed when needed.

As for sport-i would of quite cheerfully had most left handed batsman strangled at birth!!!

[Restyle]

i never noticed this till a mate called me out on it, but i have a tendency to cast with my left and fish/reel with my right. With the larger beach rods with heavy baits and sinkers id cast with my right though

 

[Fried Rice]

Right handed, was taught to reel with the right, but now reel with the left hand 99% of the time, including the baitcaster (because of Rex). Reason is that to me the left hand can easily be taught to reel and the right hand/arm is more dexterous for lure presentation & has more strength/stamina if you hook something good. The only time that I prefer to reel with the right is high speed spinning cause I can get more speed. 

Used to give a mate the shits when I went out on his boat fishing a couple of rods each. He reeled with the right. When things got busy I'd happily grab and manage one of his setups, he'd grab mine and struggle, cussing a blue streak.

[big Neil]

12 hours ago, PaddyT said:

Im pretty ambidextrous (shoot,play pool,kick left side) , can play tennis pretty well with both hands (cant serve for my life left handed)-a fair bit has to do with eye dominance. Anyway the only reel i actually like using with left hand wind is a little Curado100 which i use on the rare occasions i bass fish. I can fish fine with either set up as long as only slow retrieves are needed-for high speed spin i cant wind fast enough -so by default i mainly use right hand wind-i overcome the whole "feel thing" and not having to swap hands during the cast by ccasting left handed when needed.

As for sport-i would of quite cheerfully had most left handed batsman strangled at birth!!!

Sounds like you are one of the fortunate few who are comfortable using both at different times Paddy T. My casting left handed with the baitcaster is far too inaccurate for Murray Cod fishing with lures... that's the main reason for my using  left hand wind reels.

bn

[big Neil]

11 hours ago, Fried Rice said:

Right handed, was taught to reel with the right, but now reel with the left hand 99% of the time, including the baitcaster (because of Rex). Reason is that to me the left hand can easily be taught to reel and the right hand/arm is more dexterous for lure presentation & has more strength/stamina if you hook something good. The only time that I prefer to reel with the right is high speed spinning cause I can get more speed. 

Used to give a mate the shits when I went out on his boat fishing a couple of rods each. He reeled with the right. When things got busy I'd happily grab and manage one of his setups, he'd grab mine and struggle, cussing a blue streak.

Thanks for your reply Fried Rice. Your answer just about sums up the summary of the replies to this post. Cheers, bn

[kiwibrown]

right handed but wind with my left hand 100% of the time. always have

to me it seems logical to have the rod in your dominant hand???

If i use someone else's gear (which are 99% handle on the right) i have to swap it over

[big Neil]

1 hour ago, kiwibrown said:

right handed but wind with my left hand 100% of the time. always have

to me it seems logical to have the rod in your dominant hand???

If i use someone else's gear (which are 99% handle on the right) i have to swap it over

My thoughts and actions exactly kiwibrown. bn

[Fab1]

I kick and wind with right hand and been practising throwing sinkers with left hand for when I see that bloody @Yowie.😂😂

  Also I hold my empty hooks with my right hand, look at it closely then swap the hooks into my left hand ( they’re still bare) then look up,look down,shake my head and say……Bloody Yowie and re-bait.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Fab1

[Yowie]

2 hours ago, Fab1 said:

I kick and wind with right hand and been practising throwing sinkers with left hand for when I see that bloody @Yowie.😂😂

  Also I hold my empty hooks with my right hand, look at it closely then swap the hooks into my left hand ( they’re still bare) then look up,look down,shake my head and say……Bloody Yowie and re-bait.

Fab,

you could not catch a cold even if it bit you on the arse. 

[big Neil]

Firstly, let me thank everybody for their replies to this topic. They have been very enlightening!

I started this topic because the marketplace was NOT providing me with what I needed, in order to do the type of fishing that I do mostly... lure fish for freshwater native species (Murray Cod and Yellowbelly). I was curious as to whether what appeared natural to me, WAS ACTUALLY SO.

MY NEEDS FOR MY FISHING.

To be able to cast ACCURATELY and to be ready to engage the reel immediately the lure hit the target area. ( I often get hits as soon as the Cod's territory is invaded). No question that I am right handed, so to accommodate my fishing, the cast is with my right hand. Following on with my theory of NOT changing hands after the cast, it is essential that I engage the reel with my left hand.

When retrieving my lures (spinnerbaits, deep diving, or surface), I need to either impart action, or know what the lure is doing, through the feedback from the rod. Seems easier to do with my dominant right hand. Some have mentioned that speed is better achieved with the dominant hand winding the reel...I agree. But I NEVER use speed in my type of fishing.

Cheers, bn

[Squidless]

I wind the reel with my right hand and that's mostly because of what I learned as a kid fishing with my dad. He is a 99.9% a bait fisherman (squidding was the only luring he really did when i was a kid at least) so I think left or right didn't matter too much.

When I started lure fishing I found it hard to impart action with my left hand holding the rod. I tried switching once and hooked on a squid with it and was struggling to reel it in so I switched back. At some point I think I'll switch back to left hand wind and just keep going until it becomes natural.

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, big Neil said:

Firstly, let me thank everybody for their replies to this topic. They have been very enlightening!

I started this topic because the marketplace was NOT providing me with what I needed, in order to do the type of fishing that I do mostly... lure fish for freshwater native species (Murray Cod and Yellowbelly). I was curious as to whether what appeared natural to me, WAS ACTUALLY SO.

MY NEEDS FOR MY FISHING.

To be able to cast ACCURATELY and to be ready to engage the reel immediately the lure hit the target area. ( I often get hits as soon as the Cod's territory is invaded). No question that I am right handed, so to accommodate my fishing, the cast is with my right hand. Following on with my theory of NOT changing hands after the cast, it is essential that I engage the reel with my left hand.

When retrieving my lures (spinnerbaits, deep diving, or surface), I need to either impart action, or know what the lure is doing, through the feedback from the rod. Seems easier to do with my dominant right hand. Some have mentioned that speed is better achieved with the dominant hand winding the reel...I agree. But I NEVER use speed in my type of fishing.

Cheers, bn

It certainly can be hard getting your hands on a LH baitcaster at times @big Neil. And I'd appreciate you might really need that baitcaster when lure fishing in cod and yellowbelly in structure.

[Berleyguts]

I’m right-handed. Since I was about 12, after reading a lot of Dick Lewers, I have cast single-handed spin rods with my right hand and wound the threadline reel with my left. Double-handed spin rods, Alvey sidecasts and overhead reels, I wind with the right hand. With Alveys and overheads without a level wind (game reels, larger overheads), I need to guide the line on with my left hand, so I wind right handed. With a baitcaster with a pistol grip rod, I cast with my right hand, my thumb naturally drops down to feather the spool and control the line in the cast etc. but I switch hands after the lure hits the water (usually, this is bass fishing and I'm going to let the lure float on the surface for a little while), then I can hold the rod in my left hand, cupping the reel and tensioning the line with my left hand, if needed, as I wind. It’s horses for courses.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Berleyguts
Typo

[jenno64]

Interesting topic!

I read somewhere once that your dominant hand should be used on a rod when your are imparting action for lures so I tried it one day and after 2 hours of casting it felt natural winding with my left. All my rods/reels are lefties and have been fit 10 years!

when mates are on the boat, they feel a bit unco using my lefties!

 

[big Neil]

5 hours ago, jenno64 said:

Interesting topic!

I read somewhere once that your dominant hand should be used on a rod when your are imparting action for lures so I tried it one day and after 2 hours of casting it felt natural winding with my left. All my rods/reels are lefties and have been fit 10 years!

when mates are on the boat, they feel a bit unco using my lefties!

 

Your comments reflect my thoughts exactly Jenno. Thanks for the reply. bn