Rods vs Rods

Well after a long, hard but very profitable day doing our moving sale, here I am writng another somewhat controversial blog. Expensive rods vs less expensive ones. I own several semi expensive rods, Castaways and AllStars that neared the $100 range, but nothing in the $200+ range. I really love the custom made rods that are actually works of art, but once again choose not to buy them. I long ago left the graphite rods and have instead chose to use the titanium hybred models made by American Rodsmiths. These are not the $400 Redfish Series or the Trout Master Series, but the series that Academy has carried for some time. These rods started on the market at around $60. The handles were redesigned several years ago and I love them. These are what I suspect, are rods that American Rodsmiths have produced to supply the masses. It works. I have once again tested this rod against those $400 jobs and find that they perform just as well. I fish about 150 days out of the year and hopefully in 2010 that number will jump due to our relocation in Port Isabel, Texas. I have tournament tested them and this year we will fish the Texas Redfish Series using these $60 rods. Wouldn't it be a surprise if Tean Uno Mas could pull off a couple of top finishes using this "less expensive gear." We might even be given a few more "expensive rods", but I would probably put them up and continue to use what has worked for me!
Do what makes you happy, I like saving my money for other things....like going to Mexico or Alaska to fish!
Take care...