Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.

Speaking of casting reels only... do you reel with your right or left hand?

I reel with my right hand
451
43%
I reel with my left hand
597
57%
 
Total votes: 1048

Dark3
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Dark3 » Sun Jul 31, 2016 4:24 am

Right handed and use RH reels. I have more motor skills with my right hand therefor I feel more comfortable reeling with my right hand. Only downfall for me is I have actually bent aftermarket handle grip posts on hard hooksets from a bad habit of using my right hand as main power source while still holding the handle.

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LowRange
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by LowRange » Mon Sep 05, 2016 9:17 am

Righty using right handed reels. Can't make sustained small circles with the left hand.

Ifishnxs
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Ifishnxs » Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:41 am

I posted left hand. But to be honest I use a spinning reel left handed and a casting reel right handed..crazy I know..

Same deal playing baseball..Throw left handed and batted right..Shoot a rifle left handed and a pistol right..

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by earthworm77 » Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:20 am

reel with my left hand for both spinning and casting.

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by ayo8 » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:06 am

I started using righties as a kid and switched in my 20's to left, but i can do either one efficiently. I prefer right for retrieve and left for contact baits.

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by enjoisht » Mon Dec 19, 2016 12:29 am

I've always wondered this. I am right hand dominant but reel left. To me you should cast/fight the fish with your strong arm reel with your weaker arm. Just makes more sense. No clue why I ended up reeling left handed but glad I did!

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Obz
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Obz » Tue Dec 27, 2016 5:18 am

I didn't think there would be more lefties. I reel right handed with bait casters and left with spinning reels. I was naturally a left handed reeler but adapted to right because there wasn't always a lefty option. I'm right hand dominant, was a left handed hockey shot. Skol Wild

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:02 am

Both.

I am still young and I want to prevent overuse injuries if I can. I switch off between left and right.

Overall, I have a slight preference to pitch with my right hand but, I am proficient with both. For all other techniques, I don't care at all.
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by SteveSchmelzle » Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:59 am

Obz wrote:I didn't think there would be more lefties. I reel right handed with bait casters and left with spinning reels. I was naturally a left handed reeler but adapted to right because there wasn't always a lefty option. I'm right hand dominant, was a left handed hockey shot. Skol Wild
I believe that is the single reason why there are as many folks reeling right as there are. Now that anglers starting out have a choice, the % of right handed anglers will continue to decrease.

I also believe over the next 10 to 20 years right handed reels will become as common as left handed people.

(approx 10% of the population)
1-2%

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papabassin
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by papabassin » Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:37 pm

I've thought about teaching myself to reel righty quite a bit so I would be able to do both...but reeling lefty is all I've ever known. It just feels natural for me.

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by SteveSchmelzle » Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:25 pm

I reel with both hands, no issues....

However, working a rod (properly and effectively) with both arms is a different story.

And by that I mean casting with your left arm, while reeling right (not doing the silly hand switch).
1-2%

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Obz
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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Obz » Thu Dec 29, 2016 3:58 am

SteveSchmelzle wrote:
Obz wrote:I didn't think there would be more lefties. I reel right handed with bait casters and left with spinning reels. I was naturally a left handed reeler but adapted to right because there wasn't always a lefty option. I'm right hand dominant, was a left handed hockey shot. Skol Wild
I believe that is the single reason why there are as many folks reeling right as there are. Now that anglers starting out have a choice, the % of right handed anglers will continue to decrease.

I also believe over the next 10 to 20 years right handed reels will become as common as left handed people.

(approx 10% of the population)
Agreed. 90% of the world is right handed. I reeled left so I could cast accurately and hookset with my right. You would think that would be the case for the rest of the 90%. I wish I hadn't developed the right hand retrieve because of the casting switch. I cast right and reel right with a baitcaster. They do say your opposite hand is more sensitive though. You are supposed to shave with your left hand if you are a righty.

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Jrob » Fri Jan 27, 2017 10:15 am

I finally switched to lefty. Glad I did. Took a while to get use to, but no more rod ,hand switch before retrieving!

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by Slazmo » Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:12 pm

In Aus it seems 98% of reel owners are right handed wind.

I myself have gone lefty retrieve on my spinning reels, haven't looked back at all...

All my baitcasting reels are all right handed, no options to change IMHO and limited range of lefties also. I have a Chronarch 201 but don't find it that comfortable for some reason either?

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Re: Reeling Demographics... are you a righty or lefty

Post by SteveSchmelzle » Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:52 am

Curious how much longer Shimano will push their "not enough left handed sales to build a full line of left handed reels" fallacy.
1-2%

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