[Rayvyn]

I am a bit dumbfounded today in trying to figure out what side reel I use... My father was right handed and I am right handed... I have always held my spinning rods with my right hand and cranked the reel with my left... In looking over my father's fly rig however, his crank is on the right side of the reel so he would have had to have held the rod in the left and cranked with the right...

The question is, was I doing it right (i.e. correct) or was he?? In other words, should I be buying a right or left handed reel to be fishing the way I have been (rod in the right - cranking with the left)...

[cowboy]

Buy a reel that you are most comfortable cranking. I am one of those weirdos who cast right handed and reel right handed. In other words, I have to switch hands when I retreive my cast. Also, I am not real good at cranking with my left hand. When I am casting a fly, I cast with my right hand and retrieve line by stripping with my left hand. But, when I wind the fly line back on the to reel, I have to switch hands, because my fly reel is right handed.

[shocktrooper32]

Im one of the wierd as well, Its never been a problem. Ive seen guides and even some of the old pros who do it the same way "cast right reel right" funny thing is...... i play the six string left handed!

[Rayvyn]

I don't think I could do it any other way so I'll have to continue cranking with my left... The problem is however, I don't know what they call that so don't know which reel to buy - a right or a left handed reel???

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Rayvyn,

Most fly reels are changeable from right to left hand. Any good fly shop will set up the reel the way you want it. It is not hard to switch so you can try both ways and see which you like best. Since you are just learning I think you can learn either way. I am right handed and cast with my right hand. For 50 years I reeled with my left hand. As I got older I found I couldn't wind fast enough with my left hand so I switched to right hand winding. With the new large Arbor reels I have switched back to left hand winding. The only place it really makes a difference is with big fish that run a lot and saltwater fishing. Saltwater is where you get the real runners and right hand winding is important for a Right hander. Again the large arbor reels for salt water have made a big difference in our my ability to wind fast.

[Colorado Cajun]

I'm right handed, cast with my right, reel with my left. Like Frank said, most reels are switchable. REMEMBER, the if you switch your reel around, if the line was put on correctly for the way you were using it, you will have to pull it all off and re-reel it back on after switching it.

[waterman]

I agree, go with what's comfortable, what feels right to you.

Fly fishing I cast with the right, crank with the left.
Spincast, cast right, crank left.
Baitcast, I cast right, crank right. (switch hands)

Personally I think it would be an advantage to be able to cast or crank with either hand. (not that I can )

Fish On!

Michael

[BigCliff]

No worries Cowboy, turns out I'm weirder still. On my lighter fly rods, (6wt and below) I have them set up for left hand crank, and my big rod (9wt) is set up for right hand crank. I do this because the larger fish I would use the 9wt for are more likely to make a fast run back to me/the boat, requiring that I pick up lots of line quickly. With the lighter rods, I am changing the amount of line I have out more frequently, so it help to have the crank operated by the non-rod hand.

[shocktrooper32]

Thats an excelent reminder! I was teaching a guy once and he was having a hell of a time winding in line,I checked out his reel and found he had set up backwards and was winding against the drag wich wast tightened all the way down.

[Rayvyn]

I just need to know which one I should look to buy if I reel the reel with my left hand... Is that a left handed reel or a right??