Some time ago I injured my left shoulder (casting arm) and today was told it needed surgery. Not a major op but 3-6 weeks of immobilisation followed by lots of physio - I'm told not to plan on fly fishing this year.

To add insult to injury I only paid my syndicate fee for the season yesterday

After close on 40 years it won't be easy to learn to cast with the other arm - any tips?

Mike where do you live I might be able to do the fishing for you m8.

Joking aside there are a couple of people on this forum if memory serves me who have had the same problem and have learnt to use the other arm so give it ago best of luck.

Alan

Do it backhand! Of course you won't be able to cast as far so you'll have to get the syndicate to narrow the water..

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Hi Mike,

I had the same problem with my left arm due to impingement, and have had 3 lessons casting with my right arm from Pete Tyjas at Devon School of Fly fishing.

From Dec to Now i have now improved and am castig between 20 - 25 metres with the right hand and am now double hauling.

The key is good instruction and practice mate, it does feel uncomfortable at first but if you keep at it will get better.

Hopefully you will end up being able to cast with both arms.

Andy

Get a small double hander and use a shooting head style line.

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Had to learn other hand casting about 20 years ago after massively tennissing an elbow .

Took about 3 months at 10 mins a day to seriously get going .

Major problem was that I have no take/strike auto reponse in my left hand - to actually catch fish I had to cast left and retrieve right . Hurt but worked.

Was delighted after 2 years when elbow healed !

Isn't easy - just persist and it will come - fish a bit closer in and keep things under as much control as possible .

Good Luck

Steve P

I limited all my casting practice this year at the Glasgow Casting Club to mastering left handed casting (I'm right handed). However I've always had a limited ability to cast left handed. Here is what I found:

The easiest way is to use a double handed style as suggested below. The bottom hand becomes a support and does not have anything like the stress. Indeed neither hand is too stressed. Obviously this means an extension handle or a switch rod which come for all sorts of line weights.

Roll casting was easier to pick up than overhead casting by some margin. It only took a couple of hours to get acceptable hauls into my roll cast but I am still struggling to do a double haul left handed although a single haul is ok. The result is that I can roll cast further with my left hand than I can overhead cast.

Unfortunately the way I did it is not open to you - I let my right hand teach my left hand what to do by alternating hands every cast to start off with. Then it was just a case of being determined enough not to change back at any excuse.

One other thing - the lighter the rod the better. Heavy rods are a nightmare - even a 7 weight was very difficult for me to start with.
I used a 7.5 ft 3/4 weight (incidently made by a previous correspondent here - Steve Parton).

Best of luck

Steve,

I do exactly the same, being left handed and having learnt to cast with my right hand but still retrieve with my left hand!

Andy

Steve I found exactly the same thing. I had an op to repair a ruptured tendon in my hand and couldn't hold a rod in right hand for 3-4months or there abouts.

Managed to pickup left handed casting quite quickly but couldn't hook fish to save myself. The fish I caught were definitely down to the fish hooking themselves however it was great to be able to stay out fishing!

Best advice is practice and practice regularly. The brain will click in reasonably quickly.