hey guys, i just bought a short MH rod. (5'6-5'7) so i put a bigger reel on it given the fact that its a MH rod. The balance is off and it bugs me, so is there and good looking homemade ways of balancing a rod? or do i need to go buy a rod balance system from BPS or Cabelas. And if so how do you put one of those on your rod?

Tie a fish to it and call it good!

Spinning or casting? Balance is tip heavy or butt heavy, sounds like butt to me because of the larger reel. Just because you have a mh rod does not mean it requires a bigger reel. What is the target species, fishing conditions, line you plan on using? Personally If I haven't used the rod I would return it in favor of a rod that matches my reel or vice versa , a reel that matches that rod. I would want something where less tweaking is involved in the first place. Just sounds like the rod is too short for the reel or the reel is too heavy for the rod.

Its spinning so it is tip heavy right now

That doesn't make sense.

"Balance" is relative, and comes down to preference. The only way to know if balancing the rod helps you, is for you to try it out.

That doesn't make sense.

Me either. Shorter rods in the 6' and shorter don't seem to have balance issues and the only rods that I ever used that were tip heavy were rods 6'6" and longer, especially the 7'+. Before I make any suggestions, what kind of fish and lures/baits are you going to use with the rod? I have a rod that is a casting rod with a full cork grip, it is light but the balance is off as it is butt heavy, it is a fantastic jig rod but trying to cast a spinnerbait side arm or underhand and it feels like the rod weighs 10 pounds but because it is butt heavy there isn't much I can do about it but I don't want to since it does do a super job fishing jigs. If you are going to be using live bait I can see were you may want more weight on the back but if you end up with a reel that is too large it will hurt your casting ability as the line is really going to drag the stripper guide and that will hurt distance and sensitivity due to the amount of friction on the guides. Your best bet is to use the appropriate size reel and then go to BPS and get a balancing system.

To me a rod and reel feel balanced if I can place my finger at the junction of the handle and business end and balance it on my finger. If it leans too much toward the reel the reel is too heavy and if it leans too much toward the rod, then the reel is too light.

I have a 5'6 Shimano Clarus. Its medium heavy. I put a Phlueger President model *35. When i balance it on my finger at the top of the base of the spinning reel where it meets the rod, it leans forward with the tip almost hitting the ground. When i have it in my hand, it seems to feel very top or front heavy, however you would put that.