QuestionMark,
I was wandering why most spinning reels have the handle on the left side while most baitcasters have the handle on right side. I have always used a spinning reel for bass fishing. I used a baitcaster a little, but it did not feel comfortable due to handle placement. I know that left hand retrieve is available; however, should I be using a right hand retrieve on a baitcaster while using left hand on spinning? If not, why is it that the handle on most spinning reels is on the left while most baitcasters is on the right?
Thank You,
John Hashburn
Answer Hello John! Pleased to make your electronic aquaintence!
You have just asked one of the great questions of the modern age! It makes you wanna say hmmmmm.
If you are a righty, congratulations! You have learned to use a spinning reel the way they were designed to be used...by 75% of the fishermen that is...handle the rod with the strong hand/arm and turn the handle with the dumb/weak hand...either that or that French guy that developed the first spinning reel was a lefty!
In any case, if you are now comfortable with turning the handle with your left...keep on doing it! I am a right hander and cast with my right. I was taught on a Mitchell 300 that cranked on the left side and that is how I kept things. The strangest thing happened though, when I was about 8 years old I bought my first baitcaster...an ABU 5000...never even heard about the 5001(lefty version)and wanted to be like Bill Dance and Jimmy Houston and Ricky Clunn, I just taught myself to cast that bad boy like the pro's and that was that...that's the way it was and I was HOT!
Then, at age 9, I got a Daiwa spinning reel...and lo and behold, it had a "reversible" reel handle! Those Japanese engineers were COOL!... too late for this guy though. When in my teens I decided I was going to be God's Gift to the bass fishing world and started buying gear at a feverish pace...and soon started buying that gear to accomplish certain tasks...so like a golfer, I soon had a different rod and reel for every imaginable situation...just like different clubs for different shots.
When I started mastering precision casting with spinnerbaits into those 3" pockets of water, I decided to try my first baitcaster with left hand retrieve to eliminate the time it took to switch hands on short casts...it was an ABU 521XLT and I still fish it today but I use it as a flippin' reel instead...so once again I can use my strong arm to pull those bigger bass right out of the cover...but understand one thing, my muscle memory is so specific that if I crank a spinner with my left...hand below the rod, it feels natural...crank the baitcaster with the left ABOVE the rod, and it feels totally awkward! Go FIGURE!
So SHOULD you be using left hand retrieve on baitcasters?...only if you can rationalize out a use for doing so. If you recall, I started using that 521XLTplusLH to avoid the hand switch during very short, accurate casting...and now for flippin'. In normal baitcasting, I transition the rod/reel from the right hand to the left while the lure is traveling to the target to save that time the moment the lure hits it's target... (some less skilled allow the lure to land and then switch hands...I've missed too many instantaineous bites to do that...).
So the moral of the story is: "If it feels good or helps your situation; do it." or like my Dad and my Uncle Jr. would say: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" and "Keep that dang bait in the water!". Their wit, wisdom and love for fishing have guided me my entire life.
Hope that answers your question satisfactorily...
Thanks again for asking-
Mark Rimmer- AllExperts.com
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