Wow, I hope you forgive me for being nit picky.
But this sort of thing is why fly fishing interests me. I found an article about balance after reading your replies and thought maybe this guy is right… With my rod balanced forward of the grip, I have a light reel. And I feel the same things he describes. I paraphrased here a little to shorten his points. As my wife would say “ What Y’all think?”
Match a Fly Rod and Fly Reel - A Question of Balance
A Question of Balance By Joseph D. Cornwall
“The lightweight reel made the rod tip feel heavy no matter which line I used.* The actual, physical balance point of the rod was several inches in front of the grip before I even strung line through the guides!* Poor weight distribution had put undue pressure on my wrist and caused my timing to be off.* In an attempt to force the rod to behave I used more “arm” and less body English which resulted in a further loss of power and control.* Bad balance made casting the line a chore and limited my best distance to something under 60 feet.
With your fly rod, reel and strung line, for best feel and performance, should achieve fulcrum balance at about the point where the index finger of your casting hand grips the cork.
See if the rod will balance, teeter-totter like, on your finger at the point where you feel a comfortable grip. If the tip falls down, you need to add a more weight to the reel. If the tip cocks up, you need to remove weight from the reel.”