Is it a good thing that the lower quality products feel the same as a companies high dollar products?

The way a fishing rod or reel "feels" is so subjective anyway there is no way to qualify it either way. It will vary person to person. I will say again though that affordable does not always translate into lower quality.

Affordable doesn't mean lower quality i agree my favorite reel cost way less than some of my others and it often outperforms them.

Its not cheap if it works. There is nothing wrong with the less expensive reels as long as you don't fish for a living. You get what you pay for long term so come tell me the same thing in three years.

Thank you so much for that. We will start using them as soon as spring break is over, its next week.

Affordable is not the same for everybody, buy what you want and can afford.

Lots of folks try to justify spending ridiculous amounts of money on all sorts of random crud. It's not just fishing stuff. Why do you think companies like Rolex, Lamborghini, etc. exist?

That being said, most reasonable folks understand which quality upgrades are worth paying for (to them) and which ones aren't. For a pro, you can justify pretty much anything if you think it really will help catch more fish.

For me, I've never been someone who burned a ton of money on fishing gear. I've got 6 setups: 4 Citica 200e reels and two old Ambassadeur 4600C4 reels, one BPS crankin stick, one Berkley lightning rod shock series, one old Mitchell rod, and 3 Dobyns (1 of each series). I figured the Dobyns 745 Extreme was worth it for jig fishing, since I do a ton of it and sensitivity can make a real difference in how many fish you put in the boat. My 1997 17-footer is paid for, so is my 2004 Silverado. No plans on upgrading any of it anytime soon.

Save money?
Mark if I wanted to save money I would have give up fishing a long time ago... LOL

Affordable for me is $100 for each rod and reel, therefore no more than $200 in those two pieces. Try to use good judgement on the line, in my opinion just as important if not more than the hardware. I figure if Edwin Evers can do it with BPS Pro Qualifiers, I can too. I only buy the BPS rod and reels during the sales which comes out to about $170 for the two. Also as far as polarized sunglasses, save your money and buy strike king. I had to realize that I am not a tournament fisherman/pro and these companies don't sponsor me. I stopped buying the expensive stuff and catch more fish now than I did back then. Oakley and Costas are RIDICULOUS! My new rule, if I can't buy it used, I buy it on sale.

Right on - because a lot of times the cheaper is just as good and no doubt that some of the older reels are better even though cheaper in cost than todays

Spending a few extra dollars on rods and reels is minor compared to trying to rationalize $60K for a boat. That's half a house!

I bought one of the H2O Mystic reels the other day and it really has me thinking I have been spending way to much money on reels.

And as far as tackle goes, I am bad about buying every color of everything. But I am organizing a lot of my stuff and plan on selling a ton of it. I have tons of styles of plastics yet I always seem to use a lizard or trick worm. Why have 5 million other plastics???

I could have probably bought a nice used car for the same amount of money that I have spent on tackle the last year or so.

This past year I did buy a high end fly rod and reel but in my defense my last 8wt I used for 11 years. It was time for an update.

I brought up this very topic yesterday at the shop. Here's my opinion. I've worked very hard to afford what ever I want in life. When I look at rods, reels, etc. I never look at the price. I get the one I want! When I go fishing I don't want a cheap piece of equipment ruining my enjoyment. Buy what you can afford! Anyone who tells you there is no difference in high dollar rods and reels probably doesn't own any. My wife bought me a Calais and a GLX for my birthday about ten or twelve years ago. I still have both and there is a difference!

Loomis has priced me out of the high end market. I have been fortunate to purchase what i want in the past. Now the new GLX is $440 or so. I love the GLX I have, light and strong,but even new ones used are gonna be high. I don't see that they are that much if any better than the ones I have. Most reels are used, but did buy 2 new mg 50's before they quit making them.. Just bought a KVD tour reel for 60 bucks used, looked up the model number and it retails for $299 new. Big fan of the exo reels now. Lots of them used floating around. spend what you want ,it's good for the economy.

Mettles reels and Veritas rods is about as high end as I can afford, and I'm tickled to have them.