Left-Handed casting

[plecain]

There's a chance I'll need right shoulder surgery soon. Not definite yet, but maybe.

I cast with my right hand. Thus the problem.

Has anyone made the switch from right-handed to left-handed casting, either temporarily or permanently?

If you have, can you pass along any tips/suggestions?

The obvious thing to do is just try it, but my casting pond is frozen and under 20" of snow right now.

 

[Rip Tide]

My fishing partner switched after he hurt his shoulder. He told me that it wasn't that difficult to learn.
I tried it and I think he was pulling my leg. ::

 

[Kerry Pitt]

Probably going to depend on the person. I can cast with my left, though not as well as with my right but I learned because sometimes you are in a place that requires it. If you are frozen up outside maybe think about buying one of those little practice rods/tool, sorry I don't know what you call them and try it inside until you get it right, then you should be ready for a good shot at it in the Spring. Good luck with that shoulder.

 

[darwin]

I learned to cast with my left and it was not difficult. I can not cast as far with the left but well enough to do what I need. Go out and practice and you will pick it up in no time. Good luck with the right one.

 

[wt bash]

The irony is you'll probably cast better, your right has had time to develop little bad habits (we all do). When you make the switch it will feel so awkward but you'll notice your form is better, at least with me any way.

 

[Jackster]

So far I rarely have to cast with my off hand but I do practice doing so quite a bit 'just in case'!
I'm not sure if there's a formal way to learn to cast off-handed but what I've been doing is getting a good false cast going normally and then transfer the rod, still false casting it, to the off hand all the while keeping the rythm going.
Once I have that down it's play time and time to practice starting and presenting the cast and everything in between all with your off hand.
Casting off-handed comes in handy in situations where you have to hug the bank on your normal casting side and in windy conditions to always be able to cast to keep the fly on your downwind side.

 

[noreaster]

I am on board with learning both hands. As others have said it can come in handy when circumstances call for it. I was actually thinking about this a while back, and made the promise to practice in the spring in the yard. I am sure, with a little practice it can be achieved. I would recommend that you start with your feet and weighting. If your rod is in the left hand put more of your weight on the right leg (70%). This will facilitate the hip and torso turn and give you more control and sensitivity.
good luck

 

[plecain]

I am on board with learning both hands. As others have said it can come in handy when circumstances call for it. I was actually thinking about this a while back, and made the promise to practice in the spring in the yard. I am sure, with a little practice it can be achieved. I would recommend that you start with your feet and weighting. If your rod is in the left hand put more of your weight on the right leg (70%). This will facilitate the hip and torso turn and give you more control and sensitivity.
good luck

I'm thinking about how I shift my weight when I cast with my right hand, but over my left shoulder. It's pretty close to what you just said. That should work.

 

[schooner36]

It may be time to think about a switch rod too.

 

[randyflycaster]

I often went to a handball court and practiced throwing left-handed. Also, I wash all my dishes left-handed.

Randy

 

[plecain]

It may be time to think about a switch rod too.

Why is that?

 

[Guest1]

My fishing partner switched after he hurt his shoulder. He told me that it wasn't that difficult to learn.
I tried it and I think he was pulling my leg. ::

I think he was pulling your leg also. I can cast almost equally with either hand with a two hand rod but single hand casting is whole other story. I suck worse than sand in your eggs. :teef:

It may be time to think about a switch rod too.

Switch rod or a spey rod. You can Scandi cast really far pretty much without your shoulder at all. I'll bet you could tape the top half of your arm down and not really hurt your cast much.

WJC did a video that might help you to.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o89mvZlLzQE&list=UU3jvVNDrldX-Ut_re2WMdDQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o89mvZlLzQE&list=UU3jvVNDrldX-Ut_re2WMdDQ[/ame]

 

[plecain]

Switch rod or a spey rod. You can Scandi cast really far pretty much without your shoulder at all. I'll bet you could tape the top half of your arm down and not really hurt your cast much.

WJC did a video that might help you to.

That's a good video. Thanks.

Santa did bring me a 13' 3" Spey rod, my first two-hander. I could just as easily learn to cast it left-handed, I suppose.

 

[Guest1]

If you scandi cast it you are better off casting right hand on top. That hand does very little. All the power in the cast is with the bottom hand. If you look at this video, especially starting at about 4:00 minutes in you can see what I mean. This should keep you from working your right shoulder to much.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5V1vxR2cr0]Master the Scandinavian Speycast with Henrik Mortensen - YouTube[/ame]

 

[stlskyline]

I write left handed, cast a fly rod with the left, but when spin casting, cast right handed ...go figure.

 

[wt bash]

I write left handed, cast a fly rod with the left, but when spin casting, cast right handed ...go figure.

I write lefty too but everything else aside from shooting a riffle I do righty. I can cast great lefty but its just too awkward to get used to unless the situation calls for it.

 

[schooner36]

As Dan said, "I'll bet you could tape the top half of your arm down and not really hurt your cast much." with a two handed rod.

I will have to wade out in the snow and try that. I have a bad right shoulder, that is one of the reasons that I got a switch rod. The right hand acts more like a pivot point and the left supplies a lot of the power. Some of the fly shows are having demo casting with the two handers, it would be worth seeing and asking questions if you are near one.

Let us know what you decide and how you do...

---------- Post added at 07:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 AM ----------

I just noticed that you are in southern NH. The Marlborough, MA fly show is Jan. 18 - 20. On both Friday and Sunday, there will be a demo by Topher Browne on casting the modern switch rod, and a demo by Michael Mauri on overhead and spey casting. I don't know about Browne, but have seen videos by Mauri and he is a great caster.
I am not going to miss it. Fly Fishing Show

 

[plecain]

Lots of good advice to consider.
Thanks, everyone.
I hope that more physical therapy can avoid the need for cutting. I find that healing takes a lot longer as you get older.
We'll see.

 

[bowhuntermac]

I dealt with this same situation this past summer. Had reconstructive surgery on my right shoulder (still not 100%) right about the time for the salmon fly hatch on the Gunny. Being the dimwit I am, I decided I was not going to let a little thing like one arm in a sling stop me.

I practiced casting in my yard and got to where I could put the fly in the general vicinity of where I wanted, but it was pretty ugle...worked, but ugly.

The harder part was trying to figure out line control with my right hand while my arm was in a sling. I eventually bought an el-cheapo sling and cut the maerial away from mid-forearm out to my hand. You will have to try and learn to use your wrist on its own for controlling your line, with very little help from the rest of your arm if you are in a sling, but it CAN be done.

Once I hooked up, I would put the rod back in my right hand, and resume reeling and line control with my left, but fighting bigger fish could be a pain since there were only so many directions I would go with my rod tip with my arm in a sling.

Good luck!!!

 

[woodrivertroutbum]

I cast with both hands depending on different situations such as trying to cast in to structure or what is behind me. I am pretty good at it with my smaller rods, it is when I fish saltwater that I prefer to stick with my left hand.