I, like many my age, grew up as a kid starting off with a bait-caster (if you don't include the cane-pole). For a right-hander, that meant casting with the right and reeling with the right. Then push-button spinning reels came out (Sears). They could be set up either right or left hand. I started with right hand retrieve but ended up swapping to left hand retrieve to match the next invention.
The next phase was the under-hung open-face spinning reel (Mitchell 300), right hand on rod, left hand reel. The manual flipping of the bail and multitudes of casts made it more simple if the rod wasn't swapped every cast. I used to laugh at all the people who were so hard-wired that they flipped the open-face reel over to the top position and reeled in backwards. Anyone remember that? Now transition that to flycasting. First came the automatic reels. Best leave the rod in the casting hand so the pinkie was in play all the time on the retreive lever, and the left hand is handling the slack line and/or reeling. Now transition that to standard direct drive reels like we use today. Cast right, line manage with left, familiar underhung manual reel. Line management includes reeling in slack or fighting the fish from the reel, including managing all of the slack line. This is identical to fishing with open-faced spinning reels, so the brain doesn't have to make a swap. The difference is that the left hand managed the bail (at first) and reeled in. Now, with auto bail-flippers, the left hand has one thing less to do. But the brain is hard-wired now. (I did have an intermediate phase in here. My first 'fly rod' was a cane pole fitted with a spinning reel (taped to the butt end) and clothes-line for fly-line- casted much like a spey rod today. Fishing for gills at 20 feet didn't require tight loops, but I didn't know what that was anyway. Wet flies were made from pillow feathers and leader was my spinning mono. They fell apart after one fish, maybe before, but the bare hook was put to good use with garden hackle.) I see no reason why one can't reel with either hand, provided he is comfortable and well-practiced with swapping the rod after each cast. I am so hard-wired to reeling with the left hand that I feel awkward to the point of frustration if I have to swap and reel right-handed. Jerry G. can attest to that (borrowed his right-hand reel in Florida). I can cast with either hand proficiently, but reeling is a left-handed proposition, but only with my fly rod and spinning rods. It had to have been learned and imprinted, as when I swap to a bait reel or level-wind trolling rig (reel on top), I prefer to use my right hand to reel. For long-long fights on salt-water gamefish- tuna, sails, marlin, etc., there is no such thing as playing it off the slack line. Getting slack fed out at 50 mph without hanging up is critical. But once the fish is in play on the reel (clutch is all-important here), I'd like to try a reel that could accept a quick-connect temporary handle on the right side (removed until hook-up). During the hours-long battle, right-hand reeling would give the left-hand fingers and arm a break for a while. I do swap the rod to the left hand to un-cramp the fingers of my right hand, but that is during the no-ground-gained tug-of-war sessions. My reel holds 700 yards of 30# test backing, and I've been close to being spooled by sailfish. Reeling in 300, 400, 500 yards of backing as fast as possible (direct drive & reduced spool diameter) as the fish turns and heads towards the boat wears out the forearm something fierce. Then it passes the boat and takes out that line again. Repeat above... many times... So I teach right-hand casting and left-hand retreive to students because that is the most common set-up they'll find in guide-boat rods and other borrowed and loaned gear. But unlike me, it would be better to be able to do it either way. Like Jerry G.- he goes both ways. My 2 cents DonO ----- Original Message ----- From: George To: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 7:35 AM Subject: [VFB] Re: Left hand reel Ian, I do not think of this as a left hand reel. I am right handed and cast with my right arm/hand. I then pass the rod to my left arm and reel with my right hand. This is/was the traditional way of learning to fly fish and how I learned over 50 years ago. Thus, you are right handed you are always using your dominant hand. Today's fly fisher has some how been mistakenly (in my opinion) learned to cast with their right hand and reel with their left. In which case reels need to be altered for right hand reeling. I still believe that most if not all manufactures still sell their reels oriented to the old way. Famed fly caster Lefty Kreh still advocates using your dominant hand as I was taught. George Vincent ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: vfb-mail@googlegroups.com [mailto:vfb-m...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of iain short Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 03:09 To: VFB-new Subject: [VFB] Left hand reel Hi Guys I am selling a left hand ABU DIPLOMAT 178 reel with padded case (you wind with the right hand) Silent wind in, and adjustable ratchet drag 3.25 inches diameter paint rubbed off in the usual spot Anyone interested email me off list at iainsh...@hotmail.com iain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Surfing the web just got more rewarding. Download the New Internet Explorer 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. 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