I'm right handed, and I've been working to learn to cast a baitcaster with my left hand for a few years now. I never really backlashed with the left hand, but it felt unnatural, and I didn't have much in the way of accuracy.

 

I was casting in the yard earlier and I was pitching with both my right and left hand. I am finally getting the left hand down to where it doesn't feel like I'm forcing it. And getting a reasonable amount of accuracy.

 

I can cast overhand, side arm, roll cast, and pitch left handed now. I don't do it a lot while fishing, but often I'll make just a few casts here and there.

 

Anyone else practice with their off hand?

I only use my left after an initial pitch. 
All subsequent ones are left. 
Saves a lot of time. 
 

But never for distance 
 

 

 

 

Mike

I'm never flippin or pitching baits as there's just nothing to flip or pitch to here.

 That said, is there some Basshead rule where it's illegal to cast using both hands ?

If there is, I am for sure a felon.

Been doing the two handed cast for decades.

Sure saves the wear & tear I'm certain I'd have using just one.

Tried one arm for a while, didn't go well.

Felt like swinging a bat or a golf club with one hand.

#why 

https://youtu.be/8x9A8IP3j7w?feature=shared&t=12

A-Jay

Never once have I tried to cast with my off hand.

I do have right hand and left hand baitcasters and feel equally at home with either.

I am too old to teach this old dog a new trick.  It all comes automatic as long as I do it the way I began the journey.  Anything else now would be just a distraction.  I can cast, pitch, flip, roll cast, as long its with the right hand initially.  

With my off hand, no. But I have gotten really good at doing a back hand cast similar to a tennis return. Fishing in a small boat with another person made me have to get good at this if I wanted to put my bait in the right spot. 

12 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

With my off hand, no. But I have gotten really good at doing a back hand cast similar to a tennis return. Fishing in a small boat with another person made me have to get good at this if I wanted to put my bait in the right spot. 

That's exactly what started me on the journey to learn to cast effectively with my left hand. I had ended up going out with a friend in my bass buster and I couldn't effectively cast to the targets I wanted to.

I am left handed, but cast with my right, and use right handed reels. Only thing I can really do with my left is pitch short distances.

Nope. Never had a reason to cast with my off hand. 

I’ve gradually learned to use my left hand more while casting even though I’m very right hand dominant.

I can and have, but it ain't pretty.

I started out buying left-handed reels so that I could cast with my right and not switch. Because I go out on small john boats and Sundolphins with another person, casting only righty became limiting depending on the direction we were moving around a lake. Clockwise or counterclockwise. So, I bought some right handed BCs and taught myself to cast with my left and crank with my right. Came pretty naturally to me for the most part and solved the above issue. In '22 I blew up my left shoulder. Rehab'd it back into shape over time but became reticent to test it by jacking a hookset, so I sold off my righty reels and learned to live with the previous limitation.

I am left handed by nature, but I would not say I am exclusively left handed. For instance, I throw a ball right handed, but bat left handed. I catch right handed. I play tennis (such as it is) right handed, but play table tennis (ping-pong) left handed. I used to shoot a bow right handed (my left shoulder is in bad shape, and I can no longer use a bow). But I shoot a gun left handed. I primarily fish left handed, but if I get tired, I can switch to righty. I get better distance and accuracy left handed, but I do ok righty if necessary. I can write with either hand. I am faster with my left, but neater with my right. I can use any tool (power or manual) with either hand. I do have more grip strength with my left hand, but overall, both arms are of about the same strength. I think I developed the ability to use either hand because 1) It is a right handed world and as a lefty I felt the need to adapt rather than struggle. and 2) I have a brother who is only 18 months older than I am, and he is right handed. He got the first baseball glove, so I learned to use his if I wanted to play. That is why I throw and catch right handed...but baseball bats don't care which handed you are, so I batted lefty.

Nope.  I can’t do it.  I’m a righty and all rods get cast right handed.  Spinning rods stay there and I reel left handed and casting rods switch hands and I reel right handed.  For pitching heavy cover with quick shots I’ve tried to go left handed instead of swapping, pitching, and swapping back.  I wish I could, but it would take hours of practice which is more than I waste swapping in a couple years.  I’ve also tried the backhanded cast where I use mostly my right hand still but also put my left on the reel.  Can’t do it.  Occasionally it would be useful when the bank is on the right of the boat and I want to effectively cast left handed.  Not happening.  So instead I make a long pitch like I have for 30 years.  I’m happy to pitch any non treble hooked bait 60’ accurately, so again it would take more practice than what I’m losing to learn it.  

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

Nope.  I can’t do it.  I’m a righty and all rods get cast right handed.  Spinning rods stay there and I reel left handed and casting rods switch hands and I reel right handed.  For pitching heavy cover with quick shots I’ve tried to go left handed instead of swapping, pitching, and swapping back.  I wish I could, but it would take hours of practice which is more than I waste swapping in a couple years.  I’ve also tried the backhanded cast where I use mostly my right hand still but also put my left on the reel.  Can’t do it.  Occasionally it would be useful when the bank is on the right of the boat and I want to effectively cast left handed.  Not happening.  So instead I make a long pitch like I have for 30 years.  I’m happy to pitch any non treble hooked bait 60’ accurately, so again it would take more practice than what I’m losing to learn it.  

I was going to type, practically, the same exact thing. Just can't do it and don't want to spend the time on it. However, if that is something you find useful and want to add it to your arsenal, then do it! It may come in handy for you. 

You should cast using the hand as your eye dominance to be accurate.

Right eye dominance cast right handed, left eye use your left hand to see the target where it actually is located.

Tom

I fish right or left handed. I've always been somewhat ambidextrous.

I learned all the fancy casting techniques and I can tell you there’s only one you need to know.  The one where you cast quietly and the bait lands quietly where you want it to land. Use whichever hands work best for that…

I'm an old right hander. Have always cast right...switch to left...retrieve right. A couple years ago I got to the point I can pitch left and retrieve right. I'm working on casting left but I see like anything else it's gonna take some work.

Before surgery I had carpal tunnel so bad that I had to wear wrist braces and could only fish for a little while then give it a rest.  I found out that I could go longer and rest less if I used different hands to cast so I did.  However 5 more hand surgeries have put me back to dominant hand casting.

I'm a righty but all my rods are left-handed. Growing up, all the rods available to me had a handle on the right side, so I cast/flip/pitch etc. with two hands/right hand and switch the rod over to my left hand and reel with my right hand. My two much younger brothers think I'm crazy, but reeling with my left hand feels completely unnatural to me.

I can cast with my left hand, but it takes me a while to get it loosened up.  I also can't cast out very far.  Most of the time I cast this way from the shore, fishing around visible cover.

Had my dominant, right, shoulder replaced a few years ago and had to cast left handed.  As long as there was open water I could do it.

When my right shoulder pain gets too bad on a given day I will extend the day with some poorly executed left hand casts.  When I do I am constantly terrified I am going to end up throwing my rod in the water: )

I'm with @A-Jay and @Jar11591 on this one. The backhand casts accomplishes the same thing as using my left hand but with a lot more precision and power. I had to learn this a couple years ago as a co angler in a 12 foot Jon Boat. And now I mostly fish with my dad in a 14 foot Jon. He's new to bass fishing and his casting could use a few more years of practice, so I usually try to keep the starboard side of the boat towards the target so he's wide open to use a right-handed side arm cast.