Up until a few years ago, I subscribed to this theory of fishing equipment: Why buy the expensive stuff when the cheap stuff is so much cheaper? Most of my rods were Shakespeares, with a couple Ugly Stiks tossed in for good measure. Then one day I was invited on an impromptu fishing trip. I didn’t have a rod with me, so I borrowed one of my buddy’s — a Shimano Teramar.

After a couple minutes with the rod, I understood why my rods had been so inexpensive. It weighed next to nothing, and I could actually feel what was going on at the end of my line. I was concerned that the skinny stick wouldn’t stand up to the pressure of a big fish until I saw my buddy hook into a mongo black drum. He hauled back on the rod, bending it into a horseshoe and putting serious pressure on the fish (which, being a black drum, gave up after a couple minutes). Still, I was impressed. I didn’t catch anything quite so large, but I did manage a couple snook of about 5 pounds.