The only reason prices of rods and reels are so high, is because people continue to pay them. Fly fishing has always been and probably always will be considered high-dollar and exclusive because it is constantly portrayed as such by the majority of people who consider themselves even partly serious about it.

Sure, owning good quality equipment is great, and there is a certain "pride of ownership", but that needs to be separated from just plain snobbery.

"Action" (slow, fast) aside, Is there a big difference between a fly rod that retails for $30 and one that retails for $150?? Hell yes. Is there a big performance difference between a $150 and, say, a $350 price point? Not so much. $350 and $1000? No. Be honest. For the VAST majority of fly fishermen, the answer is just no. AS in every sport, there are a very few people who can take advantage of the absolute pinnacle of engineering, maybe 0.001% ? I'm a pretty competent recreational cyclist, but put me on a Pro-team mega-dollar time trial bike and I'm still the big fat slow guy.... Can I honestly produce results based on the difference between a $99 Huffy and a $1000 Cannondale? Absolutely. How 'bout the differences between a $1000 and a $10,000 bike? Not really. Same with most fly fishermen and fly rods.

I'd say that easily 95% of fresh and saltwater fly fishing could be totally enjoyed by 99% of people with an outfit that costs less than $150... probably less. If you know how to use a reel and have even a tiny bit of ingenuity, the heat-dissipating, unobtainium-alloy, state of the art, whoop-de-doo drag system is pointless in the vast majority of situations. Oh yeah, we need that super-high-tech drag on a reel that holds a 3wt line and 25yds of backing... Go up in scale to say an 8wt outfit and imagine you have a 20lb salmon hooked in flowing water and you let it have the whole line and 100 yds of backing out. How much resistance does all that line cause? A LOT. Up close, the last thing you want is a tight drag when a big fish makes a quick lunge.

Just like everything else in life, those folks who get some extra $$$ to spend want to believe that expensive gear will make them more competent in whatever hobby they undertake. The same as motorcycles, cars, bits of pottery, whatever, they're only WORTH what someone is willing to pay for them.