Many of us have caught lots of steelhead, for decades...and I'm sure my catch rates wouldn't go down appreciably if I went into Wal-Mart and bought the first 7'6" combo spinning rod/reel for $29.00...but it is far more enjoyable to fish with nice gear, and you should spend whatever you want on it.

I catch just as many fish on my custom built bare bones rods made from imported blanks as I do on my $400 factory built rods...but those expensive rods are sure a pleasure to fish with, and after steelhead fishing my whole life there are a lot of things I love about it that don't just include landing fish...most things, actually.

Do you need an expensive rod? No, of course not...you don't need a rod at all. A homemade gillnet, or a chunk of dynamite will catch more fish, and a lot more easily...but just because it works doesn't mean it's fun.

Fish on...

Todd