I have been looking into adding a spin cast rod and reel into my arsenal for wacky fishing which I have just started really using over the last year or so. I did have a couple of set ups many years ago but didn't stick with them much because I preferred other techniques and stuck to just power fishing. Of course now days there are hundreds of video's out there and I really have learned a lot watching other really good anglers fish with a spinning rod and reel and finally have fished enough this way to want to get a setup. The only question I have is that when I did have this setup I always bought a reel that you could put the handle on the right side so that I always had it just like my other reels. I did not have any problem fishing this way but when watching other anglers fish it is almost 100% using the reel on the left side. I personally wouldn't be near as effective and just have a hard time understanding why someone would use the handle on the left side and if there is any benefit I am just not seeing to fishing that way and having to learn to reel using my left hand and getting comfortable with it.
Looking for opinions.
Thanks

I am right handed and I reel with my left hand using a spinning reel. I reel with my right hand using a baitcaster. That's just the way I learned I guess and I can not use a spinning setup using my right hand to reel. Once you get used to it, it feels very natural.

Couple of benefits: When setting the hook with a bait caster, my left hand is usually wrapped around the reel. That gives me a good anchor point for the hook set. With a spinning reel you can't to that so you rely on the hand gripped around the rod as your anchor point. For me, I can get more power from my right than left this way. I also cast with my right hand and am much more accurate with my right than my left. So, I want to cast right handed and just start reeling with my left. It's natural for me to switch the bait caster from right to left after a cast, but not so much with a spinning reel.

I think you can fish it any way you like, but those are a couple of reasons I reel with the left on a spinning setup.

I�m right handed and use left handed reels for bait casting and spinning. It took a while to get used to, for sure, but it is actually better for me. I pitch, flip, and cast with my right arm and the left hand clicks the reel over and I�m ready for the really fast bite. Seems normal now.

For years, spinning reels weren't ambidextrous.. the crank was on the left side. I want to say they became either sided in the 80s but that is just a guess. I have always cranked with my left hand and cast with my right, since I am right handed. I see several pros that are obviously right handed, casting the bait with the right hand but having the crank on the right side.. fishing with the left hand on the rod. I guess its what ever you are used to.. but I primarily fish soft plastics with spinning gear and like having the ability to set the hook with my right arm vs my left.

BD

I use the left hand retrieve on mine as well while I reel right handed with a baitcaster. Not sure why, but it feels natural to me that way. A quick sampling on TW shows most spinning reels can be set up with the handle either way. For me, having the rod in my right hand if I want to skip a bait or get more power in my cast feels correct. When I pitch with a baitcaster, I do it right handed and swap the rod when the bait hits the water. Same concept

I'm right handed and crank left with a spinning reel also, all but one of my baitcasters is right handed, I didn't learn to left hand crank with a baitcaster because growing up with a zebco and left hand cranking with a baitcaster/spincaster(any reel on top) just feels wrong. I've noticed 90% of right handed guys do the same thing with spinning/baitcasers. That one lefty baitcast I bought just to try it out, never felt right.

I'm right handed and have always used left handed reels, both bait cast and spinning.

I am predominantly left handed, but very ambidextrous . I prefer the rod to be in my left hand, this is due to feel, accuracy and strength. Never have to switch hands to cast and reel that way. Main thing for you or anyone is comfort, both physically and mentally.

I fish right handed bait casters (rod in the left hand) because that is what I learned with when I came to the South because of Army service and learned to bass fish. I crank spinning reels with my left hand (rod in the right) because I grew up in the North West trout fishing with a Mitchel reel and that is how they all were. I have tried switching over on both types of reels so I do everything the same but it is just too weird for me. If I were just starting out fishing one of these reels I would hold the rod in my strong hand and reel with my weak for the reasons Steez stated above. Easy to flip and set the hook on a quick bite.

I hit 60 this year and have thrown bait casters since I was in single digits age wise. I also use a spinning reel with the crank on the left side and I don't even think about it. There might be a learning curve but I doubt it'll be very long. Hook sets are a little different on a spinning set-up too, more of a sweep than a "hero" set.

You can put the spinning reel handle on either side. Youll be fine.

Some applications I like a spinning rig. It feels so awkward to me to reel left handed with a baitcaster but not with an egg beater setup. Don't know why that is.

I'm left handed but use right handed baitcasters and reel spincast with my right hand. Learned that way as left handed baitcasters can be hard to find sometimes.

I am righty all the way around. I change my handles on my spinning reels. Although I am right handed and reel that way I cast left handed. Never could cast with my right hand.