Left-Handed Crankers - Unite!!

[Staci Matheis]

OK..... I'm one of those people who crank with their left hand. I know we are a long way from controlling the market - but surely we are a significant percentage.....



So how come we have so darn few choices in reels?



I was just looking through BPS's offerings for this year and not even Johnny Morris thinks enough of us to offer his Signature Series in a Left-Handed model. BPS Mega Low Pro - no Left-Handed model. It goes right down the line..... Now, I really do like the little BPS Mega Plus that I bought last year; but it's not listed for this year.....



What do the rest of you who crank Left use?



me?

 

[Staci Matheis]

P.S.



I also have 3 Abu Garcia Royal Expresses and a Daiwa PS2L-5B. I like the Royal Express for their ease of operation and they've got bait clickers for when I'm sittin' on my butt cat-fishin'! Like I said in a previous post, I've never been able to feel comfortable with the PS2. For every day castin' and crankin' - I just love that inexpensive little Mega Plus!



me!

 

[Jim B]

Scott

I mainly use shimano reels because they seem to have the best selection of left handed crank around. I have some curado's and a calcutta and they are great reels. Im surprised that bps dropped all of thier left crank reels too. i got a couple of the xps round style reels last year and now thier gone. I was going to but more because the price is so good and the reel seems pretty good quality. I dont know why there are so few choices in left crank reels. there are more right handed people then left handed people and for most right handed people its more natural to crank with your left hand. so you would think most would be left crank but thats not the case. I cant reel with my right hand, it just feels all wrong to me.

 

[Rich Stern]

Scott, I hear ya. I'd love to get my hands on a lefty Pflueger Summit or Supreme. Curado lefty is nice, but too expensive. The Shimano Corsair 301A is one of my favorite lefties, but it's quite a bit heavier than the Mega Plus. The BPS Megatournament 1HT is the same size as the Mega Plus, with more ball bearings and a better anti-reverse. But they were clearing those out recently, so it makes me think they aren't in the 2002 lineup.



I've resigned myself to more right handed reeling, despite liking left handed reeling. Jeanne is left handed, and it's natural for her to use right hand retrieve spinning reels, so I tend to keep all of the spinning rods set up that way. Since I am switching hands on those setups, might as well be resigned to doing it on most of the baitcasting setups, too.

 

[Barry Loos]

Scott:



Don't push the reel manufacturers too hard or they may take on the military attitude. The Army made South-Paws learn to shoot right handed instead of making two kinds of rifles. I never thought of the concerns of the left handed person until I had a child left handed. There needs to be more lefty reels in reasonable price ranges.

Bear











Bear

 

[Ron Perry]

I am right handed but grew up fishing with spinning reels which I was taught to cast fight and reel left handed. So when I started using Baitcasters I naturally wanted to reel lefty, my first one was a Shimano Citaca which is now 12 years old, and still in use. I have 6 Abu Garcia 4601c3's and just bought 2 Bass Pro Shop Pro Qualifiers on sale and they seem to be nice reels. However if they had not been on sale for 49.95 I probably would have bought more 4601c3's.

 

[Staci Matheis]

Ron -



I'm also right-handed. That old Garcia Mitchell 300 I got when I was 10 trained me well!



Anyone try the Abu Garcia Eons?



me!

 

[Bill P]

Just to clear up the confusion, left handed baitcast reels, aren't really made for lefties, they're more for righties who don't want to conform to what the industry wants to offer us. In a nutshell, a person should ALWAYS hold the rod with their strong, and more coordinated arm, period! a righty should crank with their left hand, and vice versa, it only makes sense. I have 8 LH baitcast reels, and they're all Quantums, but would like to switch to Shimano, when they need to be replaced. I understand the Curados, and Chronarchs are excellent reels.

 

[gone bye bye]

I too am right handed and reel lefthanded. Always have (except for that Zebco 202 when I was a kid).



I understand your pain people. I used to use all Bass Pro Shops reels (Johnny Morris, Rick Clunn and Pro Qualifier) but none of them are available in left hand this year due to changes in designs and manufacturing vendors. I still have reels from years past that are in great working shape (alot of boat rash though....).



I am still undecided what I am going to do for reels this year. Probably Shimano as I already have 5 Calcuttas (251) and I ablsolutley love them! I have had them for about 6 or 7 years and I can say that they perform as good as new! I also purchased a couple of Curados (201) to get a higher retreive ratio.



Gee I hope the fine folks at Bass Pro Shops are reading this thread! WE NEED LEFT HANDED REELS!!!!! lol



Mini

 

[Staci Matheis]

Good evening, Rich!



Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to obtain Shimano Calcuttas (preferably 151's) at a greatly reduced price for our next group purchase. Should you be caught by Management at BPS, all knowledge of your IP (Impossible Purchase) force will be denied by the members of this board.



Good luck, Rich! This writer will self-destruct in 5 seconds.



m... (poof!)

 

[stan jones]

the selection has gotten a lot better. a few years ago there were less choices and the left hand reels cost $10.00 more than the right hand reels. also if a spin reel user has trouble getting used to a baitcaster. try using the opposite(left vs right hand retrieve) i've seen a lot of people get very aggravated until they switch retrieve. stan

 

[Larry Jones]

Right on guys! Or should I say left on? I use left hand retrieves, can't figure why anybody would want to have to change hands every time they cast. Shimano Curado looks like a great reel, but nobody said anything about the Daiwa reels. I have 4 TDS103 lefties and 2 millionair lefties. These are among the finest reels I have ever touched! They are extremely smooth, and the spool totally disengages from the gears when you cast, which makes pitching a breeze.

 

[Robert Spradley]

Come on guys. Someone on here should be able to take a bilge pump motor or some other 12 volt motor and adapt it to a bracket which would install on any reel, with a floor mounted trigger button. That way it wouldn't matter if you were left or right handed. You could just sit back while drinking your favorite beverage and when a fish tugs on your line, you could tap the button with your foot and just sit back while your fish is being pulled in by the electric reel. It wouldn't get any better than this guys. Robert

 

[Rob LaMoy]

HEY You left handed, short, bald, scrawny, ugly, bait castin'.....oops wrong post sorry LOL No more personal attacks! LOL You make it WAY too easy Scott.

 

[Staci Matheis]

There you go again, Rob..... Getting your facts all messed up..... I'm a RIGHT-handed, short, bald, scrawny, ugly, bait castin'..... One who just happens to CRANK left-handed!



me!