Understanding Fly Reel Retrieve

By Scott Joyner

What is "Retrieve"?

In the fly fishing world, retrieve refers to the position of the reel handle in relation to your fly rod. “Left-hand retrieve” means the handle is on the left side of the rod and thus requires your left hand to do the reeling. “Right-hand” retrieve, puts the reel handle on the right side of the rod and uses your right hand when reeling. The real question is how you should set up your reel, and that’s what I’m going to answer below.

The Days of Right-Hand Reeling Only

For those of you new to fly fishing, it might seem obvious to hold your fly rod with your dominant hand and reel with your non-dominant hand. But there was a time when things were a little different—those of you who are old pros know what I mean. In today’s blog, I’ll be touching on the benefits of reeling with your dominant versus your non-dominant hand.

In the early days of fly fishing, many reels were not designed to be switched from right to left-hand retrieve. The drag often only worked in one direction, or it was just a simple spring-type clicker with no drag to speak of.

It used to be very common for reels to come set up for right-hand reeling only, and, as a result, most right-handed fisherman would switch hands and fight a fish with the rod in their left hand so they could reel with their right. Many right-handed fly fishermen still use this method today. While that may be purely out of habit for some, this technique also allows the fisherman to have their strong hand available for netting fish and removing hooks.

Reeling with Your Non-dominant Hand

Nowadays, the rule of thumb is simple. If I’m right-handed, I hold the fly rod in my right hand and reel with my left; vice versa if I’m left-handed. This technique is seamless, as it doesn’t require switching hands in the middle of fighting a fish.

The other reason this technique works well is the additional line control you can achieve with your dominant hand. For example, if I’m fighting a fish right-handed, I’ll keep pressure on the line with my right hand by pinching the line between my index finger and the grip.

Pinching Fly Line with Index Finger

This acts as a drag system of sorts, allowing me to control how much pressure I put on the fish while simultaneously reeling in the slack line with my left hand. This takes some coordination—which generally comes easier when using your dominant hand.

Most modern fly reels also have the edge of the spool exposed, which allows us to use the palm of our reeling hand to control the drag. When a fish takes a big run, I let the spool of the reel spin backward while applying more or less pressure to the spool with the palm of my reeling hand; this acts as an added drag system.

I prefer to set my drag on the low side in case I hook into a big fish that takes a wild lightning bolt run that I wasn’t expecting. This way, I’m always prepared for the possibility, and I can still control the fish by palming the reel with my reeling hand.

Once I’ve been fighting the fish for a little while, I’ll simply make adjustments to the drag tension by turning the drag knob up or down. (However, doing so does mean I have to switch the rod from my right to left hand so that I can adjust the drag knob with my right.) No matter how you slice it, there will likely come a time when you’ll have to switch hands mid-battle.

Setting Up Your Reel to Meet Your Preference

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which hand you feel most comfortable reeling with, and that, of course, determines whether you set your reel for left or right-handed retrieve. (Psst… If you buy a Montana Casting Co. outfit, we’ll set the retrieve and spool up your reel however you like it.) If you're new to the sport, I hope my explanation can help you choose what’s best for you. For the old pros out there, I hope this took you down memory lane. Fly fishing gear has changed a lot—sometimes it’s fun to reminisce on memories of our beloved gear from the past.