Stupid newbie question

[Recoil Rob]

If I'm normally right handed,the reel I should use is labeled a left hand retrieve model?

[bluefishercat]

Most but not all reels are reversible. If you crank with your left hand it's a left hand reel and if you crank with your right-----
Pete:-%

[Recoil Rob]

thanks Pete.

[AlderBrookFarm]

It depends. There is much room for discussion as to which hand you should reel wtih. There is the school that says you should switch the rod to your non dominant hand after you hook the fish and reel with the dominant, and the other school that says cast and fight with dominant hand and reel with the non dominant. Just make sure your reel is easy to switch from RH to LH and not one where it's a major production to switch it.

[Recoil Rob]

Up til now I have only used spinnig and conventional reels and I find that when the reel is under the rod as in spinninging or fly, I feel most comfortable reeling with my left hand. When it's over the rod as in conventional I reel with the right. Perhaps it's the way I was taught and never changed.

Besides I find that fightting a fish is mostly a rod oriented thing, the reel is just to pickup the line.

[bones]

I agree with your method, Recoil. I experienced a situation a coupla weeks ago fishing the Texas flats for redfish. I am right handed, I hold the flyrod in my right hand and reel-in with my left. I was fast and heavy into the fish and literally wore out my right arm fighting the reds with my 6wt., couldn't fight anymore. No problem, I stowed the longstick and reached for my baitcaster..........and the war continued. Going a little farther with that scenario......boat is now outfitted with both left AND right hand retrieve flyrods in addition to the baitcasters. Ya never know when that next golden day of fishing will be..............that rare day when you will catch fish every other cast no matter how lousy a fisherman you are. Be prepared.

Reeling lefthanded was initially a little sluggish and clumsy, so I trained and strengthened my left wrist/hand in the backyard reeling-in a gallon milk jug half filled with water....ya gotta be able to reel-in real fast if that big fish is coming straight at you.

[AlderBrookFarm]

Dang! How the heck did ya cast that jug? What weight line/rod were you using?:D :-% :-%

[GMflyfish]

It was easy to cast the jug - it was half empty.

[bones]

I guess you could use Light Beer instead of water, then you could really chunk it a long way.

[kwakr]

For what it's worth, "Lefty" Kreh casts and cranks right handed. I am right handed and cast and crank that way also. (That probably ends any similarity with Lefty.)
i figure I'm plenty strong enough to pull on a fish with my off hand and arm, but cranking is not a natuarl act for me left handed (even though I used a spinning outfit for a number of years). I am particularly happy with cranking with my dominant hand when one those little tunas turns after ripping off a hundred or so yards of my backing and heads back for me like a kamikazi!
There is no "right way". Do what feels best for you. :p

[zimmjas]

I do both. I cast right but usually reel with my left hand. I guide on the Vineyard convinced me to try reeling righty, especially if you're targeting fast fish such as tuna. At first, I told this guide I could reel just as quick lefty, but during the day fishing with him, I tried his outfit and was convinced I could reel faster righty (though it's awkard at first switching the rod to your left hand). I still like reeling lefty, but my tuna fly reel is set-up for right handed retrieve just in case.

[iacas]

When asked which way I reel last night, I answered way too quickly that I reel right-handed. I should have thought more... I think I wanted my line wound the other way (for a left-handed reel).

I guess there's little (nothing) I can do until I'm ready for new line. :p

[peterjay]

Iacas - of course there's something you can do - take off the line and backing and put it back on the way you want it. Or have somebody else do it. And just for the record, Lefty Kreh is a natural southpaw who taught himself to cast right-handed because most of the people he was teaching at the time were right-handed and he was afraid they'd become confused watching him cast with the other hand. Lefty also claims that anyone can learn to cast with either hand if they're willing to practice. There's no hard and fast answer as to which hand is correct or more effective. It's whatever the angler is more comfortable with.

[iacas]

I restrung the line. As a kid, I flycast with my right hand (reel with the left), and I spin fish a lot now too, so I decided to switch it. No sense relearning something I've learned already.