And I've seen people use the plastic cap from aluminum chair legs & put quarters or metal slugs in them, too

Another alternative is to put a bigger/heavier reel on the rod ... but, that might require taking the rod to a store & experimenting with different reels. There does come a point where the extra weight of the balanced rod/reel is as cumbersome as the unbalanced setup.

That's the problem with the Ugly Sticks ... they're tip heavy due to the fiberglass end.

... cp