I picked up a 5ft St. Croix Premier UL this Summer for fishing brushy trout streams here in Michigan and paired it with a Shimano Symetre 1000.
My suggestion would be to consider the 1000 series over the 500. I thought I wanted a 500 series Shimano reel, but the 1000 balanced better.
I have had less line twist with the 1000 series compared to my 500 series and feel that I can cast further as well(mostly due to less line twist).
Just saw your post jk, thanks. First hand experience is always helpful.
I've decided against the 5' Loomis and plan to go with either St Croix or Fenwick.
My reason for choosing the 500 was because of all the reels I tried, it flips the bail back the easiest and smoothest.
I have a Shimano Sienna now that's so hard I end up flipping it back manually. I've read that you should flip em back manually anyway but I'm not sure I believe that. Or maybe I don't want to believe it. Ha
