I haven't bought a new rod in ages. My son (middle school age) fishes in several tournament leagues, so most of my $$ goes to his fishing equipment and keeping up the boat. I rarely spend money on myself, and I've literally been fishing with a few old All-Star rods for over 20 years now. These were the original ones (before they were bought out) and were good rods back when they were made, but technology has moved on, plus they're starting to wear out. I've been down to two of those rods lately, and my wife accidentally broke one of those not too long ago, so I finally bit the bullet and bought a new rod last week.
Ended up with a Kaden series spinning rod, a 713SF. Holy crap, all I can say is I am impressed. The feel is perfect for what I was looking for, which is something to work weightless floating worms and stickbaits through grass with, using spinning gear. I've been also trying some of the various brands of rods that my son has accumulated, but the sensitivity of this Kaden is the best of anything I've ever fished with. My wife and I fished the Ouachita River in Arkansas this past weekend, and I was super-pleased at how well it performed. I could easily differentiate every little thing the lure contacted, and it was easy to immediately feel the bite even when it was a little dink. I can say I am 100% sold. I'm already looking at getting a few more now.