Dave.

For steelhead fishing in general you'll typicaly want to look at rods in the 7, 8 and 9 weight range. 7 will be fore summer while the 8 or 9 being good winter rods. Most guys select an 8weight for the best of both worlds. Rod length should be a minimum of 9ft 9'6: or 10 ft being better if you have the arm for it.
There are lots of good brands depending on your price range. Minimum will be around 100 bucks and maximum will be around 700.
As a beginner there is no need to buy a very expensive rod but if you know you are going to love it and have the money to spend expensive rods are worth it after you learn to perform at that level. Because i work in an american manufacturing company I would encourage you to buy a rod built in America, I think it's important.

Reels here there are also a lot of great ones. If anyone were to ask about a rood fly reel the first words out of my mouth would be Ross Cimmeron. You absolutely cannot go wrong with a Ross reel they are as bulletproof as any piece of fishing gear has ever been bar none. There are other great manufacturers but you can get the ross for 150 bucks and never have to think about it again the rest of your life. I recommend also getting a spare spool.

Lines. I would recommend buying two fly lines One a floating line and the other a sink tip. the floating line should be either a double taper or a long bellied weight forward such as the scientific anglers " stelhead taper".
The sink tip line should be a 13 ft type IV. Not perfect for every situation but by far the best all around sink tip line available. There are lines that come set up so that you can change between divfferent sink tips but i have found them to be very poor casting lines compared to a regular sink tip. But thats just my opinion.

Anyway that would be enough info to confuse you for now. I am sure you'll get input from others as well. If you have further questions don't hesitate to e-mail me
roba26@hotmail.com