Fishing left or right handed...Does it make a difference?

ETOWNCANUCK · #1 09-09-2013, 08:52 PM

I was out with two of my fishing buddies Sunday at Wab. It was a nice day. caught 39 pike between the 3 of us.
Although the break down shows it as being one sided.

Friend #1 caught 20
Friend #2 caught 12
I caught 7...(I suck I know )...but I caught the biggest

I say it's quality over quantity...

Anyways to my question.

Friend # 1 and I go fishing together the most and for the most part he outfishes me. Rarely do we get equal amount of catches.

Friend # 1 is left handed.
I am right handed. So is Friend #2.

As you can see he caught more than I and Friend #2 combined.

We were using similair rod/reel combos and throwing spoons that were also similar, and fishing in the same area.

So I would like to know...

Does fishing left or right handed make a difference?

Bigdad013 · #2 09-09-2013, 08:58 PM

You need to buy the right handed lures, obviously your using the wrong ones..

sixxer · #3 09-09-2013, 09:14 PM

Thats funny you say that I fish with a couple south paws and their numbers are usually pretty good when we go out. I am going to pay closer attention to actual numbers next trip, but off the top of my head I think they usually catch more.

Lund rebel · #4 09-09-2013, 09:27 PM

We fished wab yesterday trolling tho but I fish left brother in law right and he schooled me same lures same sit-ups one left one right he caught probably triple of what I did and the biggest one to boot.

KegRiver · #5 09-09-2013, 09:37 PM

I doubt very much it has anything to do with being left or right handed, but there may be a connection.

Seems to me that I read somewhere that left handed people are more creative, if so that could be the difference.

So try being more creative, it may even the odds a bit.

Vessey · #6 09-09-2013, 10:00 PM

I am right handed and my brother is a lefty and I regularly out fish him. We can switch spots and rods and I still catch more. We always assumed it was just the way each of us reals or twitches the rod, something subtle that we don't think of.

sixxer · #7 09-09-2013, 10:06 PM

Some days your hot and some your not.

dodger · #8 09-10-2013, 05:37 AM

I am sure their are enough members here that will tell you that "lefties are best at fishing, hunting, etc, etc ".
Dodger.

Lefty-Canuck · #9 09-10-2013, 07:19 AM

All people are born right handed....only the greatest can overcome it....

LC

ineptflux · #10 09-10-2013, 07:35 AM

I'm right handed but do all my fishing left handed - it's weird, I know but my whole I can do everything with both hands (lol left that one way too open)

Actually that's a lie, my bait caster I reel right but I don't cast with my right like I see a lot of ppl do.

omega50 · #11 09-10-2013, 08:16 AM

It seems conclusive.

It's not the angle of the dangle, but the wiggle of the worm!!

Freedom55 · #12 09-10-2013, 09:23 AM

I went to Nipawin a couple of years ago to fish the Angler's Cup for the first time. Not knowing what was required I brought the wrong gear. My buddy loaned me a rod and reel properly suited for the task (lindy rigging with a #10 hook) but it was made to suit someone who held the rod with his right hand and reel with the left. It took me a full day of catching before I figured out how to adjust the equipment to suit me. I am left hand dominant and was used to casting and holding the rod with my strong arm. While it was easier to hold the rod in my traditional way, I did manage to hook and net two 10.5 lbs. (pre-fish) walleye with the wrong hand! This proved to me that it doesn't much matter (for this lefty at least) which hand to use.

Having said that, typically when my pal and I fish together (he is a righty) we pretty much catch the same numbers and are within a pound or so of the same weight.

One of those ten hafes is displayed in my avatar and is my PB walter.

Free (and still waiting to make a dollar fishing)

Okotokian · #13 09-10-2013, 09:31 AM

So fish left handed. Just flip your crank around. Most reels are adjustable. Fish rightie one day and leftie the next. Maybe one hand is more sensitive to subtle takes than the other.

But to really know you would have to do the experiment hundreds of times to eliminate the natural variation in day-to-day fishing success.

I doubt there is any difference. Another interesting experiment would be to look at the top 50 tournament anglers and see if the proportion of righties versus lefties is any different than the general population. I'm betting it's the same.

RavYak · #14 09-10-2013, 09:32 AM

Nope, if you watch closely he probably has a different speed retrieve or adds in extra action on the lure through jerks etc.

Also it might be a difference in lure, I know you say similar but sometimes all it takes is a slightly larger or smaller size or different colour combination.

Or he might just be a lucky guy. I usually have the best luck fishing when out fishing with family and a few times I have even let them use my rod/reel/lure and they still haven't been able to catch like me then I trade back and no time at all I have another fish on... Needless to say my family thinks I have a horse shoe shoved up my you know what lol.

Mike_W · #15 09-10-2013, 09:37 AM

What do you consider right or left handed in fishing the reeling hand or the rod holding hand?

RavYak · #16 09-10-2013, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike_W

What do you consider right or left handed in fishing the reeling hand or the rod holding hand?

Reeling hand.

One thing that may be interesting and I am not sure if others do the same is that I fish right handed but fly fish left handed.

Okotokian · #17 09-10-2013, 09:49 AM

Really? I consider that I fish right handed and that is my rod hand. I reel with left. I could not cast a darn with my left hand.

RavYak · #18 09-10-2013, 10:08 AM

Yes your hand depends on the hand you reel with.

Lots of people including myself both cast and reel with the same hand so all you are doing is just holding the rod with your off hand.

Fishfinder · #19 09-10-2013, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Really? I consider that I fish right handed and that is my rod hand. I reel with left. I could not cast a darn with my left hand.

Ambidextrous perhaps. I have 2 friends who bat left, golf right.
I am right handed, I reel with my right. Interesting question and responses. I cast with both arms generally, right hand holds rod, left is more of a guide. Unless flyfishn, all righty there.

Okotokian · #20 09-10-2013, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishfinder

Ambidextrous perhaps. I have 2 friends who bat left, golf right.
I am right handed, I reel with my right. Interesting question and responses. I cast with both arms generally, right hand holds rod, left is more of a guide. Unless flyfishn, all righty there.

I bat and golf right, but use a hockey and lacrosse stick as a left hander. Write and do all fine motor work with right hand.

RavYak · #21 09-10-2013, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

I bat and golf right, but use a hockey and lacrosse stick as a left hander.

You must be ambidextrous or primarily left handed. No way in hell I could use a lacrosse stick with my left hand, it would be comical.

Fishfinder · #22 09-10-2013, 10:23 AM

Haha, I think Oks Avatar sums it up. Food for thought.

But....to answer the original q....no, I do not think it makes a difference what hand catches more fish imo. But...we are fisherfolk....superstitions ya, I got them too.

I would make hella sure there was no one near if I casted with my left hand haha.

Wild&Free · #23 09-10-2013, 01:31 PM

My roommate is a lefty, I'm a righty. I out fish him on a regular basis.

huntsfurfish · #24 09-10-2013, 02:17 PM

No difference for me, I fish both left handed and right handed.

Fish standing up and sitting down too.

And have caught fish while eating or drinking or peeing.

NSRfishing · #25 09-10-2013, 04:27 PM

cast with my right and reel with my right im useless with my left arm

dodger · #26 09-10-2013, 06:52 PM

Like most I can hold my rod with the left or right hand

Dodger.

ETOWNCANUCK · #27 09-10-2013, 11:44 PM

Thank you to those that responded.

It would appear which hand is used does not make as much a difference as I would have thought.

After years of being out fished by him it was one variable I wanted to explore.

mooseknuckle · #28 09-11-2013, 12:06 AM

One of those superstitious things I'm thinking. Last summer at echo lake sask I was fishing with a buddy. My first time at the lake his 50th+. Back of the boat I must have caught 25 walleye in an hour him at the front... Not one! Same setup. Switched spots with him... No difference I kept catching he couldn't get one to save his life. Wait a minute... He was reeling with his right hand. You may be on to something.

wildwoods · #29 09-11-2013, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Really? I consider that I fish right handed and that is my rod hand. I reel with left. I could not cast a darn with my left hand.

It's funny. I cast with my right and switch hands to reel with my right. I swing a baseball bat right and hockey left. Such an incredibly strange topic.