Spinner bait rod recomendations?

[basstech]

Hi guys, I'm needing to lighten my load so to speak on my spinnerbait setup. It tends to wear me down. I really like what I'm using in terms of feel, casting controll and response when throwing 3/8 oz. baits but 1/2 oz. seem pretty heavy and it feels like the rod is overpowered on the retrieve. I'm wanting something that will handle both adequatley with out sacrificing the sensitivety to the blade rotation. The majority of what I throw is willow leafs with the large blade being from 3.5 to 4.5. The setup I'm currently using is a st.croix (crankbait rod) pcm66 mhm, with a '97 model Shimano citica. The rod doesn't seem so heavy in and of itself but with that reel and a 1/2 oz. bait, it just plain wears me out after 4 or 5 hours, not to mention I have a much tougher time snapping the bait out of the weeds. I use primarily 15 to 20 lb. test with this. Do you all have any rod/reel suggestions that will decrease the weight, keeping the 6.X:1 or higher gear ratio and still handle a 1/2 oz. bait well with allowing me to feel a 3.5 willow on a 3/8 oz. head or should I go with a seperate setup for the 1/2 oz. baits all together? I know this is wordy, but I wanted to be as speacific as possible about it. Thanks for any input.