I have yet to fish for steelhead with my float rig, but used it somewhat successfully for chums.

To me the most important thing is being able to mend your line so that it doesn't either drag your float down stream, or impede it's progress if it's in faster water. To do that it REALLY helps to have a long rod and line that floats, like Powerpro, Fireline, or mucelin (sp?) coated mono.

How you achieve that drag free drift depends on what the current(s) is(are) doing, but tossing the belly of your line upstream or downstream is how I usually go about it, and I do it with the bail open and gentle finger pressure on the lip of my spool so I can add line to the drift if necessary.

In retrospect, I probably would have just gotten a casting rod and used a baitcaster on it once I discovered how well a long rod handled floating line, but I suppose having a spinning setup for floats also means I can take less experienced people with me if I should choose to.

[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: Skywalker ]