[Huronfly]

I swing a baseball bat and play hockey right handed but when it comes to fishing I find myself doing things backwards. It started early with a spinning rod using my left hand to cast and right hand on the reel, when I transitioned into fly casting I just kept it that way(using left hand to cast and right hand to strip/haul).

Any tip Ive ever heard about beginning spey casting with hand grip has always associated using your dominant hand up when casting, but I just find it much more comfortable using my dominant hand to manipulate the line... Ive tried using my dominant hand up but I just find stripping in line with my non dominant hand super uncomfortable. Maybe someday this will benefit me into switching back and forth between arms? for now Im going to continue to go againt the grain. Anyone else like this?

 

[fish0n4evr]

Plenty of views but no replies...

What you do seems to work for you and makes sense to me that you are better at managing running line with your dominant hand on the lower cork. I hold running line in two or three large loops - all in the lower hand letting each loop slip as the line goes out. Makes sense also that your stronger hand is placed on the bottom since many rods out there actually cast better with either more lower bottom or equal top and bottom but it is seldom that it work the other way around.

 

[Steve Saville]

Interesting. I guess I never thought about it. I am right hand dominant but swing a bat and played golf left handed. I strip and reel with my left hand and most often cast with my right hand up and right hand single handed. But...I'm training myself to spey and single hand cast left hand up and with my left hand. The casts are not as distant and the right hand stripping is very difficult so far. I can do it but not as well. It helps a lot to cast this way rather than "Kak-handed" but I haven't the same issues doing that. I think it's a matter of mind over matter in this instance.

 

[Pere]

Why not just switch hands once your cast is made. Strip line with the hand your comfy with. Duh!

 

[wrx_canoe]

It's very beneficial to be able to cast with both hands on top depending on which river bank you're on and wind.

Since you use both hands you're half way there!

I spent the first 10 years spey casting cack handed when I need to use my non-dominant hand up and now that I'm casting a long line I'm really regretting.

I'm onto year 2 with trying to cast "properly" with both hands as conditions dictate. It does open up more fishing opportunities for me...especially given the long line.

 

[fish0n4evr]

hey - that going going quick. Either hand up is an advantage - both hands up even better...

 

[Speyducer]

Stay versatile - either hand up, either hand for reeling, either hand for stripping! Sorted for all situations!

 

[SLSS]

- both hands up even better...

I really want video….

 

[Jabrowning24]

When I was younger I would snowboard left foot forward and skateboard right foot forward, the only oddity I have with fishing is I reel left handed unless I am using a casting rod for bass (yes I do that!) I only reel right handed.

 

[Bob Budesa]

As of now, my cach-handed casts are better than my dominant-side casts! That in itself is frustrating.

So, the natural tendency for me to ask is, why bother?

I may try switching again someday.

 

[Huronfly]

Ive never had a problem casting cackhanded either so Im not sure its worth it to switch hands ever... :razz: Like you said wrx it would definitely be advantageous for casting a long belly, but I cant see myself trying that stuff for a while

 

[Jim]

I'm left handed but cast right hand up. I can reel so much better with my left and hate switching.

 

[MT Box]

Just going with it....sounds like a good plan... Right hand on top for me two handed casting. I am NOT going to try switching again. One barbed hook in the back of the hand is all it took....A friend of mine throws a single hand rod right handed but then puts the rod in his left hand to strip,dead drift,swing or fight a fish. Reel set for right hand wind. It still baffles me. I know it's a traditional method to reel with one's dominant hand when fighting a fish;but my buddy switches right after the cast. So quick it's hard to notice

 

[troutless]

To the original question: I started using my dominant (right) hand to cast, left hand to strip line and reel, when I first started casting single-handed. Like for most, that habit set in pretty hard. Casting double-handed, I could only strip line with my left hand.

Years later, at some point in my speycasting, I started to realize I could diagnose/debug various casting faults by comparing right vs. left side casts (I switch up hands, I do not do cack). By definition, one side is always better than the other at any given point in the cast. The more symmetrical the cast is -- ideally they'd be perfectly symmetrical, but they rarely are -- the easier this is to do. I noticed one thing creating asymmetry in the cast was the way I stripped line, as I always stripped with the left hand, and that meant a hand switch on one side, and the two sides were set up differently for the cast. So I forced myself to learn to strip on the other side, just to see if it made it easier to see what was going wrong earlier in the cast. Took about three weeks. In retrospect I don't think this really made much of a difference other than I like not bobbling the rod back and forth between hands.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying, in my experience, training the off-hand in these things is, in the long run, less effort and time than you'd think. Quite painful and requiring discipline in the short run so presumably discouraging for many.

 

[Steve Saville]

Switching hands

Why not just switch hands once your cast is made. Strip line with the hand your comfy with. Duh!

My reels are all set up for left hand wind which is my comfortable side but once in a while, I have a friend who loans or wants me to try a rod opposite. I always try them casting either left or right to get a feel. Your suggestion makes all of the sense in the world but sometimes it's not feasible; as in the time I had my hand operated on and was recovering, not wanting to strain the hand. Others reasons too but I'm "trying" to become proficient with both hands.

 

[Peteo]

If your off hand is more comfortable I say go with it and don't worry if you're the only one you know out there doing it. I would think using your off hand would actually improve a lot of people's casting, especially underhanded casting. Less power (and speed) with the top hand and more power in the bottom hand is a good thing.

 

[Huronfly]

If your off hand is more comfortable I say go with it and don't worry if you're the only one you know out there doing it. I would think using your off hand would actually improve a lot of people's casting, especially underhanded casting. Less power (and speed) with the top hand and more power in the bottom hand is a good thing.

I thought that it could possibly be an advantage too, leading the sweep with a dominant bottom hand and also powering with the dominant bottom hand ...

I was just second guessing myself what I should be doing after watching SM1 and Ed specifically saying to use your dominant hand on top.