Spending a lot of $$ does not guarantee a quality rod, nor does spending less $$ mean you will not get quality. A couple of my favorite rods are Cortland Brook series <$200 and another is a Reddington CPS that I paid $150 for, which compares favorably with a Sage XP. Yes I do have some Sages, and mostly they don't get fished as much. For the Angler who does not fish 100 days a year minimum, I do not see the need to invest a huge amount of money in top end rods, unless you just have a lot of money to play with. For the "average Joe" you can get quality components and very good performance for $200 or less and not feel cheated in any way.
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