[Joe]

Good question……
In any market there are consumers that make their purchases based upon price alone. That is why Wal-Mart is so successful.
There are other consumers within that same market that make their purchases on branding alone. There has, and always will be, a demand for boutique products – but the introduction of these products into the (surfcasting) fishing market is a recent phenomenon.
Some people feel as though they are not worth it – that is fine. In a free market economy there is room for the man who is willing to work harder to turn out a higher quality/priced item, and we are free to choose whether or not we buy it.
But the majority of consumers look for a compromise between quality and price. This is why companies like Pradco (Bombers, Creek Chub, Rebel, etc) and ACME (Kastmasters) are so successful – they marry good quality and competitive price and appeal to the majority of the marketplace.
Fishing is a fairly cheap hobby and there are some real cheapos who are attracted to it. Some folks expect that once they have made their initial purchases they should be able to fish for little more than gas money. Usually, cheap anglers place little value on their time – which is really the most expensive commodity. But a good fisherman can incorporate high quality tackle with relatively little in the way of additional per-trip expenditures and greatly improve their overall experience by doing so.