Lot of truth here. I dabbled in fly gear for steelhead in the 80's, but mostly fly fished for trout. Also fly fished AK salmon with lots of success, was my confidence boost. Struggled enough locally for takes, that the spinning rod was always in the trunk. One summer I decided to leave the spin rod home. Deep water express had come out and threw the lead core tips away. I would cut it up in varied lengths and interchange tips on a WF floating line with the new braided loops that I made. It casted like crap but got down baby. I was on the Green R. King County, opposite side at Icy Crk. ...used to rope down into the gorge, just around the corner from the main hole. I remember I had a muddler minnow on. I knew nothing about the proper swing, but by accident got the correct drift, and fish on. Great fight 8# summer chrome. Sooo Cool! Lots of fish around then! I continued to dabble, equipment got better, lines became high tech, tungston tips, shooting heads, 2 handed spey rods I couldn't afford at the time, so didn't keep up with the new technology.
Fast forward Sept. 2010. Got an invite to fish the fabled Dean R. BC, Lower Dean R. Lodge for Steelhead. Trip of a lifetime! Played with the new modern gear. So much easier than it used to be. Had multple hook ups daily. Kateri Clay was one of the guides back then. I asked if we could float over the top of the hole I had just fished, with 2 fish landed. She did, and we spooked at least 15-20 steelhead there. I could only get 2 to take? But I was now hooked on the 2 hander, so I bought the same set up when I got home. Sage Z-Axis 7136-4. 13'6" #7, Rio lines and shooting heads, sink tips etc..$$$$$.
With the new confidence again, hit Forks that March. Struggled to find the correct water to fish but did find a beauty 15# in front of Woodwards place on the Bogy. Was really hooked now that I could get fish locally. Fished a couple more springs on the coast and never hooked up. Guess what? the spinning rod came back out! Learned that the stars have to align perfectly, even in perfect conditions, to swing catch steelhead. Still dabble in the fly stuff for Steelhead once and a while, but never giving up the spinning rod, because I like to fight/play fish, especially these days. Good Luck!