I wish I was young, and single, and could afford to be stupid. I have four kids in private school, and a wife, and on and on. Enjoy it while you can. I wish I had a time machine so I could back and buy a slick, late-model, Ranger before I tied the knot. Now I'm pretty well stuck with my Tracker until the kids are out of the house.

You earned the money, it makes you happy, who cares what they think. 

If owning nice gear makes me stupid then consider me an idiot lol. I have two extremes, some really nice stuff and some average beater gear. They both catch fish but i certainly enjoy using my nicer gear when I can.

They say "You get what you pay for" and that saying absolutely applies for fishing. Enjoy brother!

Nope, That little thing is called jealousy. The higher end reels obviously perform better then 100 dollar reels. And dobyns rods are kinda great. So no but go buy some mega bass stuff too then they will make fun of you even more. Then come tournament time, show up and fish well and the respect wil come.

this guy is 100% right 

I was at my local tackle shop talking with a couple guys and they brought up the reels and rods I bought recently. They were telling me I could get stuff just as good for under $100 and I'm an idiot for spending that much. I've been fishing since I was little and I am now 21 years old. I'm done with college and I got a great job making great money. I'm able to splurge on stuff I like. This is my first year fishing Tournaments so I bought some nice gear. I went with Dobyns rods, Lews and diawa reels. Was I stupid for spending so much on quality gear? I kinda feel like the joke of the shop now....

 

You've just scratched the surface.  Wait until you start buying Japanese rods and reels.  If nice tackle makes you happy, buy it.  I do.  If you're concerned about what others think, well, you're doing it wrong. 

As with anything you can buy there are endless levels of cost versus quality, proven name brands versus new companies to an old game. Me personally? I am a big believer in CONFIDENCE! Nothing is more importanrt in fishing, especially tournament fishing you are talking about. Get quality gear you can rely on and have confidence in, period. Another thing people get twisted is the use of high end equipment in the wrong application. Example, someone will go out and buy a very high end flippin stick and tie on a spinnerbait and complain about the rod. Be sure that if you DO spend serious money on rods and reels that they are being used for what they were designed to do and you shouldn't be dissapointed.

Side note but in my experience I haven't found a better reel for the money than Lews. WOW, durable, smooth and powerful. And they make some sweet spinning reels that cast further than anything I've ever owned.

 

Tight Lines!

This^^^^CONFIDENCE...If you're not confident in your gear, just like your favorite baits, you're not going to be successful.

If fishing is your "thing" and you can afford it then I believe life is too short and unpredictable to not buy and use what you desire.  Also if you buy good stuff, you can always sell it and make some of your money back.  My dream combo used to be an NRX with an ito on it.  Guess what, it's not a dream anymore because I have it!

Were these guys in the tackle store or did they work for the tackle store?  If the latter, I'd find a different tackle store.  The primary job of a tackle store employee is to gently nurture your addiction and make  you feel good about the money you're spending at their store.

 

I feel like I'm fortunate in the KC Metro area in that there is an independent tackle store that totally gets this.

 

At work, I get the you're nuts comment about fishing tackle quite a bit.   My retort is "yeah, I'm nuts - so what?"   Everyone is nuts about something - some things are more self destructive than others - a fishing tackle addiction is fairly benign as addictions go.

Were these guys in the tackle store or did they work for the tackle store?  If the latter, I'd find a different tackle store.  The primary job of a tackle store employee is to gently nurture your addiction and make  you feel good about the money you're spending at their store.

 

I feel like I'm fortunate in the KC Metro area in that there is an independent tackle store that totally gets this.

 

At work, I get the you're nuts comment about fishing tackle quite a bit.   My retort is "yeah, I'm nuts - so what?"   Everyone is nuts about something - some things are more self destructive than others - a fishing tackle addiction is fairly benign as addictions go.

Everybody has their thing they blow money on, mine is fishing. I meet people every day that blow theirs on much worse, which is how they ended up meeting me  Addiction runs in my family, fishing is my escape from that. I got very close to being sucked into that world shortly after I turned 21. My fishing buddies pulled me back and I haven't looked back since. Trust me, there are much, much dumber things you could waste your money on. At least fishing has a positive side to it right?

 

What kind of shop is going to make fun of someone for buying expensive gear?? Seems a bit counterproductive to me. 

If I were a tournament fisherman, the last thing I'd want is my equipment to malfunction while I'm catching good fish. Buy what you can afford. Just because you buy nice stuff it doesn't make you any better, but it also won't hurt. Especially when you feel confident in your equipment and feel that maybe you're more accurate with it or can cast further, feel bites better, etc.