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Bass Addict · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:53 am Post subject: bait caster retrieve

if you are right handed, do you use your right hand to retrieve or do you use your left like a spinning reel?
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Sorry honey, looks like we will be late again due to motor problems.

Justin

SkeeterJim · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 2219 Location: Newington, CT

Bass Addict, if you cast with your right hand and retrieve with your left hand turning the reel handle then you are using what is considered a "left handed reel". If you cast with your right hand and then switch your rod from your right to your left hand and retrieve with your right hand turning the reel handle then you are using a right handed reel. Hope this is clear for you. Very Happy

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Eat, Sleep, Fish......I Love my SKEETER ZX225!!!
If I didn't have to work for a living....I'd be fishing.
If I'm not in my Skeeter then I'm in my Hobie!

Bass Addict · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks skeeterjim

Ok, that is the way I have my bait caster set up. I cast with my right then switch the rod to my left and reel with my right. My buddy told me that i bought a left handed reel.

Why do they set it up that way (where you have to switch the rod from your right hand to your left and then reel with your right)? Has anyone right handed tried using a left handed reel so you do not have to switch hands after casting? As you can tell, i an new to bait casters.
_________________
Sorry honey, looks like we will be late again due to motor problems.

Justin

SkeeterJim · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 2219 Location: Newington, CT

Bass Addict, your buddy is incorrect. What you have is a right handed reel or "normal" reel by industry standards. I don't know where the "switching hands" all started, probably a right-handed person who casts better with his right hand but also had to reel with his right hand hence the switch. Me being lefty sees this as wasted motion which can come into play if you get a strike the moment your bait hits the water and you're in the process of switching. I do what most "lefties" do which is cast with my right hand and reel with my left, which is why I only buy baitcasters that are available in left hand models. Team Daiwa and Shimano are two that come to mind and are excellent reels. Just be aware to try and hold them in your hand before purchasing because a left hand reel will be built different and are ergonomically different in your hand than a right hand reel of the same brand and model. Some guys just can't get use to the casting switch being in a different location than usual and in a sense get fatigued/soreness in the forearms. I'm sure Just4fun may chime in regarding his experiences with using lefty reels.
_________________
Eat, Sleep, Fish......I Love my SKEETER ZX225!!!
If I didn't have to work for a living....I'd be fishing.
If I'm not in my Skeeter then I'm in my Hobie!

Bass Addict · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:35 pm Post subject:

thanks jim.
_________________
Sorry honey, looks like we will be late again due to motor problems.

Justin

SkeeterJim · Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 2219 Location: Newington, CT

No problem! Very Happy

If you like reeling with your left hand like when using a spinning set-up you really should try a left-handed baitcaster. You don't have to fish where you're switching hands after every cast. You never know, you may like it and never buy a right-handed reel again. Been there, done that and I'm never going back! Smile

_________________
Eat, Sleep, Fish......I Love my SKEETER ZX225!!!
If I didn't have to work for a living....I'd be fishing.
If I'm not in my Skeeter then I'm in my Hobie!