Quote Originally Posted by sagefisher View Post
Does a $100 bamboo rod cast and last as well as a multi-thousand dollar bamboo fly rod?
Well, sometimes. My SB 290, for which I paid $100 last spring has already lasted 60+ years, and casts as well as rods costing 10 or 20 times as much. Don't get me wrong, it's not much to look at, and has clearly cheap hardware, but it's hard to beat as a practical fishing tool. (Not that don't also own and fish far more expensive cane as well.)

If you're paying $1000 for graphite rod vs. $300, you're mostly paying for cosmetics, name brand recognition, a warranty and possibly a "made-in-America" label. Yeah, all these things (except maybe name-brand recognition) are "better" in some sense, but they won't catch you more fish.