Rod Of The Exalted One

Exalted Relics are the reason to care about Rod Of The Exalted One: the in-game text says they now have a 10x higher chance to be caught. It was originally created for the most magnificent royals, then lost in time and sealed away, and you find it at The Keeper's Secret. The cost line in the wiki is unusual, a free start followed by a range from over 185,000 up to 240,000, so check what is asked of you when you get there.

The base stats are good, not extreme. Luck of 170 ranks 64th of 184 obtainable rods, and Control of 0.15 is 54th of 185. Resilience of 20 is 77th, Lure Speed of 55 is 122nd, so bites come slowly. The weight cap of 57,000 kg is 43rd of 117 rods that list one, enough for very big fish. It has a passive.

That makes it a hunting rod rather than a farming rod. Slow bites are less of a problem when you are after a specific, valuable catch and the boost to Exalted Relics does the work. If your goal is volume, the Lure Speed is a clear drawback.

Verdict: pick it for Exalted Relics, and accept that its stats are otherwise upper-middle. For general fishing sessions, a faster rod will give you more casts per hour.