Also keep in mind what you're going to by tying on the end of the line when talking about balance. You might have a 2500 reel with 20lb braid perfectly balanced on a rod, but tie on a decent sized swimbait or 10" worm and suddenly it's off.

Who cares if a rod is balanced holding it with a bait tied on? That has nothing to do with a rod being balanced.

I do. 

How can you balance a rod with a big bait tied on it?

You guys really fish with bait hanging off the end of your rod?  My baits are usually in the water, and they usually are buoyant or resting on the bottm, so I don't need to offset that mass.

I suppose I should have been clearer in my support of earlier comment.  I wasn't considering 'balance' in the Physics 101 sense so much as in the sense of balanced in proportion and feel.  Handling a rod and reel with appropriately weighted lure makes perfectly good sense.  I am unlikely to be casting a spinning rod very much without something tied to the line.

 

Unless you're drop-shotting, the rod is also important for putting that lure where you want it.  The feel with a lure isn't unimportant to me.

It doesn't make any sense to me. Any rod with a bait hanging off it is going to feel tip heavy.

I suppose I should have been clearer in my support of earlier comment.  I wasn't considering 'balance' in the Physics 101 sense so much as in the sense of balanced in proportion and feel.  Handling a rod and reel with appropriately weighted lure makes perfectly good sense.  I am unlikely to be casting a spinning rod very much without something tied to the line.

 

Unless you're drop-shotting, the rod is also important for putting that lure where you want it.  The feel with a lure isn't unimportant to me.

 

So, you're talking more about taper (action) and power, along with the ergonomics (long/short handle, etc)?  Because it seems like this more about the actual balance point on a rod.  Maybe I'm wrong...