My dad has been fishing lake eucumbene for 30 years, generally he 'll fish with old glass rods and mono and catch plenty of fish. Recently I lent him my 1-2kg nitro vapour and 1000 Stradic with 4lb braid. When using this combo he caught an 8lb brown trolling, the biggest fish he'd caught in years. The expensive rod and reel certainly didn't help him hook the fish trolling, but the overwhelming theme of the story when he was recounting the fight was how amazing it was that he could feel every kick, head shake and movement and how much fun it was reeling this fish in on such a lightweight, sensitive yet strong outfit. Moral of the story is that using his old glass rods and mono line would have caught the fish, but using the new gear gave him a far greater appreciation of the fight and the sporting aspect of fishing.
That's why I like buying good gear, doesn't catch more fish but I have more fun using it.