Possible to change the side that the reel handle is on?

[john52948]

if thats the bps in katy texas, i live about 5 minutes from it

[s1rGr1nG0]

Me too John. I live off of Franz and 99. Maybe we can meet up and do some casting around here somewhere in a local pond or creek.

[jeffnles1]

With the Sage reel, you can always just ask the Company. Here is the link to their contact us section.
http://www.sageflyfish.com/default.asp?p=38
Jeff

[john52948]

that would be fine with me, maybe i can help with your casting or your gear setup. i m not a pro, but figure ive absorbed a little knowlege after flogging the air for 50 years

[analogbob]

I actually heard Lefty Kreh address the question of what hand to reel with. He said to "reel with your right hand if you are right handed and with your left hand if you are left handed." Some one then asked him if that would work if you hooked a Bonefish. His response: "Don't worry about that, you will have plenty of time to switch the rod to your other hand while the fish is taking out 100 yards of your line!"

Although Lee Wulff held the opposite view on which hand to reel with I did observe on a few occasions that he casted with his index finger outstretched along the top of the cork grip. Not many people copy that style although I find it works fine for me.

So I compromised and reel like Lefty and cast (in my dreams) like Lee!

Bob

[john52948]

analogbob, the purpose of the index finger on top of the rod handle is to limit your backcast. it helps when fishing narrow brushy streams with limited casting space.

[analogbob]

I agree, John. It is also a very efficient method of use for short casts, and I have no trouble using it for casts of 50 feet or so. And I did see Lee Wulff at The Northeast FF conclave use it in a casting demonstration. He effortlessly laid out 90 feet of line with it; in fact he draped the line over the backdrop at the far end of the casting pool. It is a natural grip for me that I always used since I was a kid. I never could get used to the thumb on top grip. The rod grip kept turning in my hand. After I saw Wulff using it I decided to stay with it.
Cordially,
Bob

[EdD]

I'm a Southpaw. Sometimes I reel left-handed, sometimes right-handed. I have reels set up each way and they can change quickly. Also, I reel "backwards" often. By that I mean that the line spools out closer to the rod rather than off of the bootom of the spool. I often get corrected for this. I finally started setting my reels up "normally", just to avoid yet another explanation.

Ed, who values Joe V's unconformist ways.

[flybinder]

I'm so corn-fuzed by all the answers and opinions here, that next time on the water I'm going to try holding the rod in my teeth and winding up line with my left foot!?!

It's been said, here already, "What ever floats your boat, or makes your cannon ball, is what you should do". Couldn''t, agree more with that!

Personally, since I'm "a righty", I hold-right and reel-left. Mainly, because, since my right hand is the dominant force, I want my rod in that hand to feel the action of my nymphs, as they bounce along the stream bottom, or even something as simple as feeling and judging the head shakes of a larger fish when fighting it.
Just, like, "hand-eye coordination", we refined apes have, and can feel, better with our dominant hand, over that of our "off side hand". Try it, if you don't think that's right! When you go to feel something like the fine finish on a piece of wood, or want to feel for nicks and scrapes in a fly line, which hand do you immediately use? So, that being the case, I like others, find it awkward and time wasting to switch hands, just to take up line.

I also like the post made about "why, fly reels were set up originally, with the handles on the left". I'm sure the spinning reel reason is a very valid one, but I was sure Marryat fly reels did it just to drive their customers insane. If you've ever owned an older Marryat and tried to convert it, right to left, you'll know of what I mean?!

Then, of course, there's chaps, like the one in our fly club that any time he wants to pick up line on his fly reel................. he turns the whole- shebang upside down, fly reel on top of the rod, now, and reels the whole thing by cranking backwards? Even, when playing a fish, on the spool, he reels in line this way. "Whatever floats your cannon ball", or, however that goes...................