It's always a trade off between time, skill, and funds. Good fishing equipment is expensive; even in my dad's day. Hence, he always fixed it himself. That said many folks these days don't have the skills anymore. Shop classes in school are no longer a priority, and cheap imports make the replacement/upgrade cycle quite attractive. The younger generation doesn't care much about country of origin anymore, and mostly buy on price alone.
That is a very different value proposition than what was common in my day, or in previous generations for that matter. Globalization has made it easier/cheaper to upgrade or replace rather than getting something fixed or mended.