Dane, In my opinion, it's a little light, you might be able to get away with it during the low, low flows of summer using lighter tippets and smaller flies. My biggest concern would be playing one of the Deer Creek fish to death because of to light of gear and warmer water temps. During the low flows of summer I use a Sage 6 wt. 9'6" rpl, which is light, but still has plenty of back bone to control a fish. If you are ready for the challenge of bringing steelhead to the fly I would really consider picking up a 7 or 8 wt. then you would also have a flyrod to fish the winter nates and the dawgs. Just my thoughts, good luck.