This is the point. The high-end rods are better. They're lighter, crisper, more responsive, recover faster, and most have nicer components. But the way to think about it is if the best fly rods cost $800 and are a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, then most $400 rods are a 9, and rods in the $200 range are an 8. You start to pay a lot for a small incremental improvement. Is it worth it? Well, we all spend it on something. It up to you what you spend it on.