Rod, reel and waders are important items that must be thought out carefully. For winter steelheading, it will be tough to cut corners as an angler will need quality equipment. However, for fishing in moderate weather, corners can be cut on all three items. Not many cheap reels can handle the surge of a steelhead. The rod is tough to say due to the quantity of different rods on the market.
Noodle rods are ideal.
They are long, flexible light action rods ranging from 9 to 12 feet in length. Fly fishing equipment can be a luxurious, costing thousands of dollars. However these luxuries aren't mandatory. He landed fish after fish right in front of anglers who were outfitted with top of the line equipment. Those anglers were taking a bad skunking.