I'll beat a dead horse a little more here:
I think a distinction must be made versus single-hand and two-hand fly rods to accurately say whether a steelhead can be landed quicker on fly versus gear. Can I land a steelhead on an 8 weight single hander as quickly as I could on a gear rod...75% of the time probably not...but we're talking less than a few minutes difference. I cringe when I hear people talk about fighting a fish for 30 minutes (both gear and fly mind you)...I can't comprehend what steelhead would ever take 30 minutes to land.

With a two-hander I can probably land a steelhead faster than just about anybody can with a gear rod. Using 12/15 pound Maxima, a size 1 Gammy octopus hook, an 8/9 spey rod and a saltwater grade large arbor reel with a 10 plate stacked carbon fiber disc drag, I can winch a 20 pound steelhead directly in if required.

It boils down to experience more than gear every time...most people just don't have confidence in their knots/line/hook/rod to apply maximum effective pressure. I grew up fishing for 5-10 pound trout on 5X and 6X tippets and you'd be amazed how much force you can apply to a fish on 4 pound tippet and a size 22 hook.

I've spent a fair bit of time fishing and floating the rivers of the OP, and I can't say I've ever seen any dead steelhead floating in the river that were obvious C&R fatalities...not to say it doesn't happen, but I've never seen the results of it.