Curtis,
Just a little more about leader strength. Like I said above, Steelhead aren't normally leader shy. But even if they did pay attention to the leader, the visibility of the leader varies with its diameter,and its' strength varies with the square of its' radius.

8# Maxima is .010 inch in diameter.
12# Maxima is .013 inch in dameter.

So the diameter of 8# Maxima is 77% of the diameter of 12# Maxima.

The theoretical visibility of 8# Maxima is only 23% less than 12# Maxima. But by going from 8# Maxima leader to 12# Maxima leader you gain 50% in strength.