Which Shimano reel to match a Clarus 5'6" ultralight trout/panfish rod?

Decided to get into ultralight fishing a few years ago. The setup I've had for the past two years for trout & panfish is an off-the-shelf combo (Pflueger Trion GX-7 size 20 reel, 4'8" rod) and balanced nicely out of the box. I'm fishing mainly with 2 or 4 lb. mono line, and small lures and jigs in the 1/64-1/12 oz class for trout, with the occasional live worm or grub for panfish.

This year I decided to upgrade to a separately-purchased rod & reel combo. This is my first attempt at matching a rod and reel. I picked up a Clarus 5'6" IM-8 ultralight rod last week at a local shop (model #CSS56UL2B). I've tried the Sedona 500FD reel on this new Clarus rod, but the 5'6" rod doesn't balance well with the light 6.1oz 500 series reel. The balance point is over 3 inches in front of the reel stem, almost off the front end of the grip, and the rod feels tip-heavy when holding the grip. For comparison, my old Pflueger ultralight combo balances only about an inch tipward of the reel stem.

Does a 5'6" Clarus ultralight rod require a Shimano 1000 series or larger reel to balance, or do people still use the 500 series reels with this length rod? I chose the Sedona 500 reel since it is the higher end in the 500 size reels that Shimano makes. But if I need to upsize to a 7 or 8 oz reel in the 1000 series to better balance the 5'6" rod length, I'm now looking at the Sahara, Symetre, and Saros reels. Coming from the 4+1 bearing Pflueger Trion GX-7 size 20 reel, the Sahara 1000FE with 3+1 bearings seems like a downgrade, while the Symetre and Saros 1000 series look OK and fit the budget. The Stradic 1000FJ looks very nice, but appears better suited to Shimano's high-end G.Loomis line of rods. I don't really want to go more than 1.5x or 2x the rod cost for this reel.

Any suggestions or experience on matching one of the Shimano 1000 series Sahara, Symetre, and Saros reels to a Clarus 5'6" ultralight rod would be appreciated.

The new Sahara FA doesn't give you the best bang for the buck anymore. I really like the new Symetre FL since it now has the X-ship gearing as well (previously only available on the Stradic FJ). It is really smooth and will perform really well.

You should take your rod into your local tackle store and put on their 1000 size reel and see how it feels.

Personally, I like the Saros 1000, but I do have at least one each of the other Shimano 1000 series reels. Not all Shimano reels within a model perform the same. One Symetre 1000 might be a bit smoother than another Symetre 1000, so spin a few of them to see which one you like the best.

After trying out the various 1000 series reels on the Clarus 5'6" rod at the counter this weekend, I ended up going with the Symetre 1000FL w/ the X-ship gearing and 4+1 bearings, which was being offered for only $10 more than the Sahara 1000FE with 3+1 bearings. The shop had the Saros 2500FA, but the 2500 size was too big of a reel for this ultralight rod. I also tried the Stradic CI4 Microline 1000 series, which is a really neat reel, but went with the Symetre as it seemed a better match to the Clarus rod's price/performance point.

Thanks much for the info & suggestions.