I have Abu Garcia 4600 C3's and 5600 C3's that range in age from 20 years old to current models. The old ones still work great and with a little maintenance they last a life time. Parts are available if needed almost all the Abu Garcia round reels ever made. And yes you can get left handed versions. I am right handed but like to fish the left hand versions often.

This is my workhorse musky & pike reel. I have the 6501 (I'm right handed but prefer left handed retrieve, especially in a kayak since switching hands from casting to retrieving seems pretty senseless to me). This reel is a workhorse. 5.2:1 retrieve gives you leverage to crank in the biggest fish (musky & pike for me). I'm experienced with baitcasters so can cast this better than 95% of the time without a backlash & the backlashes I do get are due to my own forgetfulness/laziness. There's really only 2 downsides with this real. (1) While 5.2:1 is great for cranking in big fish it's not great for fast retrieves (I bought a 7.1:1 Daiwa Lexa for that); (2) with 65# braid & and extra heavy rod it doesn't throw my lighter musky/pike bucktails or spinnerbaits all that well (also why I bought the Lexa). All in all, a great reel for big fish.