Your questions are difficult to answer, at least for me. I honestly feel there is a difference between a high end rod and a lower end rod. That difference is in the material used to build each rod. For my fly fishing, I prefer a fast action rod because my casting stroke, for now anyway, is a fast stroke due to spending 30+ years as a bass tournament fisherman and making hundreds of casts per tournament and trying to "beat the clock" before the tournament ended. Lower end rods are just to slow for me or my fishing pace is to fast. I am not one for going to the river and finding fish and just spending 2-3 hours casting to those fish and then going home. I like getting to the river and moving either up or down the river and making many casts and exploring as much of the river as daylight will allow. It is not unusual for me to be a couple miles away from my vehicle at day's end and have to hike back. I enjoy the exploring as much as the fly fishing and a slower action rod would just not be for me.

Now as far as the cost of higher end rods go, I feel that a person can purchase a good quality rod and not spend the money that the "name brand" rods are bringing. At the present time I have in my vehicle a 4wt, 5wt and a 6wt and they are all fast action and are made from a material that makes them "light in the hand" and a crisp action and a real joy, for me, to fish with all day and each one can be purchased for $100 and there is no name brand on them. I feel each one is "equal" to the fast action rods I own of a well know name brand which cost me $300 and more. Those $300 rods are collecting dust at the moment. I searched for quite some time to find these rods and the time spent was well worth it as far as I am concerned. They do not have a "written" life-time warranty, but, after I have used them for 3+ years, I feel I have gotten my monies worth from them and can afford to replace them if something happens to them. Some, not all, people put a lot of importance on being seen using a "name brand" rod and that is not what is important to me. I just want a rod that "fits" my casting style and a real joy to use and, so, I am using rods with "no name" on them. Just my opinion and nothing more....