I have a 5 weight rod with an uplocking reel seat. The balance point is currently 3-4 inches in front of the cork and I would like to move it back to my index finger- about 6 inches over all. Are there any good ways to balance it out, not including buying a new reel, to make the rod more comfortable in hand?
Please clarify. The balance point you’re speaking of is with the reel w/line and backing attached to the rod?
Is there line a backing on that reel?
Are you trying to get it to balance with the reel alone, or with the reel mounted and line running through the guides and beyond…( As if it were in use. )
You’ll have to add weight. If you don’t want to change reels you can add weight to the reel. Roll on some lead line before the backing. Some guys do that with bamboo rods to get them to balance.
Another reason for down locking reel seats.
Thad,
Have you fished with the rod and found it uncomfortable to use?
The reason I ask is that ‘balance’ as applied to a fly rod, is VERY subjective.
At what stage of use do you wish it to balance?
Line on the reel but not through the guides? (cant’ ‘use’ it that way, but if that’s what you want…)
Line through the guides, but none out the tip? (again, unusable for fishing, but maybe balanced for carrying it around?)
With a length of line that would reach the water out the tip? (how you’d use it if you were letting a fly drift in a lake-the water would support the line past where it reaches the water).
AND,
At what ‘angle’ do you want it come to rest?
Level? (do you fish with the rod in that position?)
Tip upwards (do you hold the tip up while fishing, AND at what angle?)
Tip downwards (again at what angle?)
Lots of options here, and you can only ‘balance’ a fly rod for ONE static situation. Things like casting and actually fishing the rod are inherently ‘unbalancing’ due to the pull of the line from either the casting stroke or the drag of the water.
While a very poorly balanced heavy rod can be tiring to use, most fly rods, due to their length, are tip heavy while static, and ALWAYS so in use. To make these rods more comfortable to use, you want to reduce overall weight as much as you can. Lighter rods are less fatigueing to use, all other things being equal, than heavier ones.
Good luck on your quest for balance. I’ve never seen it done effectively, maybe you can solve the puzzle.
Buddy
Thanks for the great information. Now to clarify-- I currently do have backing, line and reel on the rod. In my previous post I meant that I would like it to balance with fly line in the guides. That being said, my reason for interest comes from an article that I read this last week, I cannot remember if it was on FAOL or not. I do not have a very nice (read expensive) combo and my interest was in maximizing the sensitivity and possibly even reduce fatigue. I appreciate Buddy’s post because it reminds me that there are a host of different possibilities that are all dependent on my taste as a fisherman. Really what I was inerested in was timkering with the combo and seeing what works the best. Thanks to all for the information.
I have found this string on balancing rods very interesting. It is a very old subject in fly-fshing. In many of the old (19c) books on angling this was regarded as very important. The idea that a rod had to be balanced by its reel goes back to the 19th century when most rods were hand made by a local craftsman or by the angler himself. By the latter stages of the 19th c. most reels were being manufactured by local craftsmen or a few tackle companies, for example Orvis in the US. So, the necessity to balance a rod and reel was a consideration. When you have a reasonable match between the rod and reel, you can feel it when you use the rod. This is quite easy to achieve with todays rods and reels.
Personally, what I do when I get a new rod is take a reel loaded with the correct line for that reel and for the rod, and if they are at least competently made there should be no problems.
Just try a salmon reel on a trout rod and you have an extreme example of an unbalanced combination.
When someone talks of balancing a rod and reel, I have often wondered if he meant balancing the rod on a finger at some point ahead of the fly-reel or using the correct line for that rod in the appropriate reel.
Personally, I think the latter is the correct approach.
My master instructer was a man who was the CEO for a company that built bamboo rods in Japan after WWII. He was the Natianal Dry Fly Casting champion for 5 years straight in the 50’s - 60’s. He knew what he was talking about.
He instructed me to put the reel (with line) on the rod. Then balance on the index finger. If you can simply fold your hand around the handle at that point and be holding the rod where you would hold it for casting you are good to go.
Since then, when I build my rods I always tape the guides on and then balance in this way. If it does not balance I make adjustments until it does.
It is not scientific - I don’t know that it can be proven. I have been told my eyes are turning brown when I say this to people. BUT it has never been wrong. In fact I have taken rods that were completely out of balance using this method - added weight to the reel where necessary until the outfit did balance and corrected the rods casting performance many (I DO mean many, many) times in the past.
Others can say it’s wrong and they may be right - I don’t care - IT WORKS EVERY TIME!! 
Well, I will admit it makes sense to me, but I must say that my problem has always been language,
when people say balancing a rod, I’ve never been sure exactly what they meant.
I have had both explanations given to me before, maybe both are correct.