I'll agree that most salmon/steelhead fishing favors longer rods for a lot of reasons, but not so much with coho from a boat in a river, which is what I believe Rocket is referring to.

In fact, fishing for river coho from a boat is more like bass fishing than steelhead fishing to me.

Consider the following when casting spinners or twitching jigs for coho from a boat and tell me if this doesn't sound like bass fishing to you:

1. pitching in or around cover (wood)
2. exploring tight shallow backwaters
3. probing deeper pools
4. casts with premium on accuracy over distance
5. rods best with sensitive tip, fast taper and a burly butt
6. Coho, like bass, aren't leader shy

Sounds like bass fishing to me.

My favorite COHO boat rod for spinners and jigs right now is a one piece 7' crankbait bass rod. I also use a double duty 7' 6" Rainshadow HS9001 for pulling plugs too, but the bass rod is better for tin and feathers.
One thing is for sure though, short rods don't make a good flossing rods. And obviously shorter rods aren't ideal for float fishing either, but I'm starting to think these bass boys might actually be on to something when it comes to slayin' silvers.