Baitcasters

[spokey9]

monday i took my cousin & my girlfriend out to owens beach to teach'em how to cast. i used a diawa tierra, and they both picked it within 20 mins or so. i started by locking the reel down completely (spool tension & the anti backlash at 10)
and gradually loosened it up as they got more comfortable. it was a lot easier than i thought it be (my cousin only got 1 bad birdnest). next friday i'll be rigging them up with leaders to get them ready for the rivers this year. My cousin hasnt caught a salmon and my girl has only caught 1 chum and a bunch of pinks. i wanna get them into some kings this year and watch'em panic once the line starts burning out:batman:

[Fish-N-Fool]

I learned to cast with an Ambassador 5000. I don't think there is a better reel anywhere to learn on. .

I had one and it worked very well. I used it for a boat anchor. LOLOLOLOLOL

[Bodofish]

I learned to cast with an Ambassador 5000. I don't think there is a better reel anywhere to learn on. .

I had one and it worked very well. I used it for a boat anchor. LOLOLOLOLOL

Hehehehe... You forgot the part about the mans reel.........

Hey what ever works for ya. I think learning with no brakes is the best way to go, in my humble opinion (Ok so I'm not very humble, shoot me...). It's like those darn automatic transmissions. They sure are nice but you're screwed if you have to drive a stick and you never learned..........

If you learn to cast with a reel that has no brakes you can cast anything, ZERO learning curve. If you learn to cast with all the gizmos you're stuck at step one.

Hehehe my Quantum still out casts any Shimano I've ever touched.

[MarkFromSea]

I learned to cast with an Ambassador 5000. I don't think there is a better reel anywhere to learn on. .

I had one and it worked very well. I used it for a boat anchor. LOLOLOLOLOL

That is funny! LMAO

Serious about that, "a right handed fisherman should use a left handed baitcaster"? Just asking cause I don't know, I have been the switch the hand guy........ it has always felt odd to switch, yep, just grabbed a downrigger rod/reel setup, checked it out, if mooching, I'd let down while rod in right hand then switch to reel up with right hand, what the hey over? LOL might be a challenge to change 40 years later! LOL

[flinginpooh]

I learned to cast with an Ambassador 5000. I don't think there is a better reel anywhere to learn on. .

I had one and it worked very well. I used it for a boat anchor. LOLOLOLOLOL

That is funny! LMAO

Serious about that, "a right handed fisherman should use a left handed baitcaster"? Just asking cause I don't know, I have been the switch the hand guy........ it has always felt odd to switch, yep, just grabbed a downrigger rod/reel setup, checked it out, if mooching, I'd let down while rod in right hand then switch to reel up with right hand, what the hey over? LOL might be a challenge to change 40 years later! LOL[/quote

I am right handed I have right handed reels and my rod does not leave my left hand. I can cast with my right hand just fine. But why Not just practice holding it casting it and everything left hand. It makes it easier and its more comfortable when you get the hang of it. People are just so use to a right handed spinning reel. Cast right hand and reel left. They get use to the idea its easier to cast right hand. Its really not. Think you can over power it and cast out farther with your right? Good luck I can turn off my brakes feather the spool nice lil flip and get it out past ya no prob. If Im using my 10'6" I can spool a reel holding 180yards of line If I wanted. But why would I wanna spool my reel with a cast? I cant hold the rod in my right hand and reel left. It dont feel right at all. I tried it before cause my dad is left handed. I put his rod down and fished mine after 3 casts.

[kzoo]

I'm right handed and use a "left handed" baitcaster. Casting with my right hand, setting the hook with my right hand and fighting a fish with my right hand feels more natural to me than using my weak hand. I don't throw a football with my left or write with my left, I'm definitely not going to cast with my left. I still don't understand why the standards for a right hand baitcaster is to cast with your right, switch hands, then setting the hook and fighting the hook with your left hand. And the standard for spincasting is right handed is reel with your left?

[BentRod]

I'm right handed and use a "left handed" baitcaster. Casting with my right hand, setting the hook with my right hand and fighting a fish with my right hand feels more natural to me than using my weak hand. I don't throw a football with my left or write with my left, I'm definitely not going to cast with my left. I still don't understand why the standards for a right hand baitcaster is to cast with your right, switch hands, then setting the hook and fighting the hook with your left hand. And the standard for spincasting is right handed is reel with your left?

Ditto. This has always been an enigma to me. Right handed. Cast with my right. Reel with my left. Fight with my right......Guess it's what you're used to.

[jens]

I am right handed. I cast with my right, reel with my right. It feels natural to me to do it this way. This goes for my spinning reel too. I could be we todd did.

[islandbass]

islandbass, thanks for the input, i think i learned more from what you wrote than about 10 other online things that I have read up on...I read about the ball bearings and blah blah it is better to have a rod with 3 or 5 good ball bearings than 10 bad ones but I dont think I have ever seen any BC's that say the type of ball bearings. Has anyone tried the quantum code or quantum kevin van dam baitcasters, read some mixed reviews...

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm glad this thread is still going!

Anyway, this came as a lovely and sweet revelation quite a while ago to the question that surfaced about right hand and left handed reels in the posts above. It came shortly after I bought my first casting reel, which was an Abu G round. I chuckled at F-n-fool's post because I related to it 110% and I almost quit on learning to use a casting. It also didn't help that I bought a "right-handed" reel because I was right-handed, or more accurately, right-hand dominant. It also didn't help that learning with a right handed reel was so uncomfortable.

Then I bought a curado bsf (left-handed to boot) and mastered it in three 30-minute sessions, at night in the cul de sac. It was also far more comfortable to use.

I was perplexed as to why a right-hand dominant person like me would be more comfortable with a "lefty" reel. Then it dawned on me......

A reel is designated by a manufacturer as a right-hand reel because NO MATTER the angler's hand dominance, the handle is on the right side of the reel, which therefore means that the angler's right hand is going to turn the handle, regardless and independent of the angler's hand dominance. This means that I chose my first reel on a faulty yet plausible assumption... "I'm right handed so I should go with a right handed reel."

You can think of playing baseball. Generally, you will wear the glove on the hand opposite of your dominant arm because you will most likely prefer to throw the ball with your dominant arm. So in fishing, in theory and generally speaking, it should feel more comfortable for a right-hand dominant angler to cast with his or her right arm and retrieve with the left side.

However, there are always going to be exceptions to this generalization and I would be a floating Rapala minnow that there will be right-handed anglers who prefer right handed reels.

It simply comes down to which feels most comfortable to you and it is best to determine this BEFORE you buy the reel as I learned.

Luckily in my case, I forced myself to learn to fish the "opposite" way and am comfortable fishing either way but given the choice, I still prefer LH retrieve. This is also a major plus when one side gets too tired.

There is a happy story for my abu g round reel. I changed on the bushings on it with abec 7 bearings and it is a completely different animal. It can cast just as well as my curado bsf now. So the abus are cool with me now. But as some have said, it can definitely be easier to learn with reels that are more refined and newbie friendly.

[kzoo]

I use to be really upset about the "left handed" models when I started using baitcasters due to the lack of left handed models they had. Right now, majority of reels have a left handed model.

I've had this debate with my buddies for more than a decade and came to this conclusion, regardless of what everyone says, Islandbass is right, use what you're comfortable with.

[Gringo Pescador]

I am right handed. I cast with my right, reel with my right. It feels natural to me to do it this way. This goes for my spinning reel too.

I'm right there with ya. Right handed. no matter what type of reel, I cast with my right, switch, hookset and fight with my left while reeling with my right. I have tried to reel with my left (it makes sense to do it that way) but don't seem to have the motor skills in in my left hand to do it, I would turn a couple cranks and then my hand would spaz out and try to reel backwards, then forwards again:shaking:

But.. the bonus is that since I am practiced at fighting with my left hand, that leaves my right (strong) hand free to tail/net/unhook the fish.

[jens]

I am right handed. I cast with my right, reel with my right. It feels natural to me to do it this way. This goes for my spinning reel too.

I'm right there with ya. Right handed. no matter what type of reel, I cast with my right, switch, hookset and fight with my left while reeling with my right. I have tried to reel with my left (it makes sense to do it that way) but don't seem to have the motor skills in in my left hand to do it, I would turn a couple cranks and then my hand would spaz out and try to reel backwards, then forwards again:shaking:

But.. the bonus is that since I am practiced at fighting with my left hand, that leaves my right (strong) hand free to tail/net/unhook the fish.

Yes! I am not alone. Well, my son fishes like this too. The feeling I can compare this to is catching with a mitt- samesies.

[Anglinarcher]

I'm right handed and use a "left handed" baitcaster. Casting with my right hand, setting the hook with my right hand and fighting a fish with my right hand feels more natural to me than using my weak hand. I don't throw a football with my left or write with my left, I'm definitely not going to cast with my left. I still don't understand why the standards for a right hand baitcaster is to cast with your right, switch hands, then setting the hook and fighting the hook with your left hand. And the standard for spincasting is right handed is reel with your left?

Ditto. This has always been an enigma to me. Right handed. Cast with my right. Reel with my left. Fight with my right......Guess it's what you're used to.

I can't quite figure it out myself. I cast a ton of buzz baits to bass, and often I place the bait in just a few inches of water. You have two choices, because no one is fast enough to land the bait then switch hands before it sinks to bottom or snag/cover.

Either you learn to cast with your left hand and real with your right, or you cast with your right hand and real with your left!#-o

OK, there is one more option. You can try to switch hands as the bait is landing and live with massive bird nest.:cyclopsan

Fortunately, I have a bad shoulder, so I learned to cast, and retrieve, with either hand. It comes in handy at times, especially in tight cover, but.................

I talked to Larry Dahlberg and posted in one of his forums about this. His answer was, well, ~'it's just always been done that way'. LOL

[kzoo]

I am right handed. I cast with my right, reel with my right. It feels natural to me to do it this way. This goes for my spinning reel too.

I'm right there with ya. Right handed. no matter what type of reel, I cast with my right, switch, hookset and fight with my left while reeling with my right. I have tried to reel with my left (it makes sense to do it that way) but don't seem to have the motor skills in in my left hand to do it, I would turn a couple cranks and then my hand would spaz out and try to reel backwards, then forwards again:shaking:

But.. the bonus is that since I am practiced at fighting with my left hand, that leaves my right (strong) hand free to tail/net/unhook the fish.

Yes! I am not alone. Well, my son fishes like this too. The feeling I can compare this to is catching with a mitt- samesies.

You two are definitely not alone, the majority of bass fisherman out there, does the exact same thing.

[ingi]

Thanks for the help but the little input I have on this is Quality, my first baitcaster was a quantum code I could never really get it dialed in for me.. I went back to the store and they let me trade it in cause they have had lots of complaints with that reel and got a abu Garcia revo S and have pretty much solved my problems with birdsnests, and all around a much better reel..