I've used right hand baitcasters all my life, but a shoulder injury has made it more difficult to hold rod and crank with right hand, so I'm thinking about getting a left handed reel and seeing how that works...my question is .. has anyone gone from right hand reels to lefty and how did it go ?

I have heard of people having to do this. I have always fished with left hand retrieve reels. If things go wrong on down the road, I might have to right handed! LOL!

I switched to lefty for pitching and flipping almost 10 years ago and it was an easy adjustment. I still crank righty though.

I did it several years ago buying a left handed Quantum 1310 MG reel. I was trying to improve my cast efficiency for tournament fishing. I am ambidextrous as well and thought I could pull this off with no problems. After about a month of trying this I finally gave up......but if I had to do it to keep fishing I am 100% sure I could pull it off......just didn't have the motivation to make it stick.......

I'm right handed and of course started out using righty reels. After a while I got tired of switching hands to crank. So I bought a lefty just to try it. If you think about it, all your really doing is making a circle with your left hand. It took a little getting used to, but really, it's just a mind over mater kind of thing. Now I cast right and reel left. Can you turn a screwdriver or a wrench with either hand? Might not be as good at it (at first), but when you get it through your mind it really does become second nature. Like I said, your only making a circle...with your left hand. Makes pitching and flipping quicker and easier. Now I can reel with either hand, I just don't like having to drag the rod butt across my belly. Think about how much energy your using when you cast 300-500 times a day and have to switch hands...twice for each cast. Just like the old grade school punishment, which sentence would you rather have to write out 500 times?

Casting and switching and reeling and switching.
Casting and reeling.

And yes, I did have to write many a sentence back in the day.

I don't mind using them , me and my tournament partner use each other's rods all the time since we each have something different on. He is left handed and has a lefty reel, I cast it with my right and reel with my left. But if I had to cast lefty, it would be just like learning how to cast a baitcaster all over again!

You did not say which shoulder is hurt. If it is your right shoulder keep your right hand retrieve reels. Its the natural reel for left handers.

Cast with your left arm and reel with your right. Less stress on your right arm.

You can probably do it if you need to. I broke a bone in my right hand 10 years ago or so and had to start casting left, reeling right. The dexterity won't be your major problem. The strength in your left arm will be what limits you if you are anything like me. I could pitch and and cast good enough within just a couple weeks but could not get as far as when I was a righty. Luckily within 2 months I was back to throwing right handed.

I've been using left handed reels since the 80's when there were very few people using left handed reels. I use them both, right and left. The right hand reels for carolina rigging and some other stuff. Left handed for all the fast moving baits like spinners and cranks.


Have you ever seen a naturally left handed person complain about having to use a right handed crank reel? Think about it. The reason most of us use right handed reels is because we learned on them and it was just the thing to do.

You won't have trouble adjusting--got a left handed baitcaster with braided line that I use for frogs and pitching heavy cover. I really like using my right arm to pull those big bass through lily pads/heavy grass/weeds. Sometimes when the bass inhales the frog as soon it lands on the water, I'm glad I don't have to switch hands.

Had a left wrist injury last spring, had to wear a cast for 8 weeks, bought 3 left handed quantum`s. Like them so much I still use them. Much better once you get used to them.

The funny thing is how many people that use right handed bait casting reels that use left-handed spinning reels! If can make little circles with your left hand when using a spinning reel, you should be able to do the same thing with a bait caster. JMO

Wouldn't have been just as easy and less expensive to learn to cast left handed?

I grew up with RH reel. Always hated it. As soon as Shimano started making some. I made the switch and never looked back. It make me a better fisherman. Especially with worm or jig fishing. I keep my strongest, dominant, and most coordinated had on the rod at all times.

All I have ever used are LH reels. Couldn't get the hang of the RH reels so I only buy LH reels. I grew up spinning reels so it was easy for me to start using LH baitcasters. I like the fact that my dominant arm, right, is controlling the rod,action,etc. You will be surprised how easy it is to switch to a LH reel.

RH never made sense to me, dominant arm I use for most everything in life is supposed to turn the little handle while the weak arm that normally gets the day off controls the lure action and fish? No thanks, I'll stick to lefty's especially when ripping grass or flipping heavy cover.

I think it's the most unexplained thing in bass fishing. I asked an old timer and he thinks that back in the day the only round reels you got where really designed for drop and plop live bait fishing for bigger fish so it made sense to use your strong hand on the handle, the rod didn't require much work and that just became the norm.

The first bait casting reels were difficult to wind, so the initial designs were for the stronger more dexterous hand.