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3. steelhead rods

Hey guys new to the forum here! so upon my greys 7wt tip snapping im back the using my 6wt tfo for steelhead. im not in a position to buy the replacement tip for the 7wt. Just curious what your guys steelhead set up is like for small tributaries. Im in the process of adding a fighting butt much like a two handed rod to my 6wt. basically turning it into a 2 hand rod.

Ashtonr, I got back into steelheading last year, and went with the Echo fiberglass ll ft. switch rod. I have two of the echo reels, one with 320 grain spey line, the other with rio switch line for indie fishing. I would love to catch a steelhead swinging a streamer, but realistically indicators and nymphs, or egg patterns are more productive on the rivers I fish.

Man the only time i ever get steelies on the swing is around spawn time in the spring. other than that the only way is nymphing for these great lake run steelhead. i tested out my modification of adding an extended but on my 6wt and it performs pretty good as a 9 ft switch rod. it has a wf line on it which isnt the best for switch style casting but on small rivers im quite pleased with it!

I've used rods of all lengths and weights for steelhead/trout on GL tribs, bc tribs vary so much in size and flow. I have a few 6wts I used for small GL's and for FL's (Finger Lakes) tribs and I too added a fighting butt to them.

Adding a fighting butt to a single hand rod is not really going to make it a two hand rod. It is only going to provide you with some added leverage to turn and land bigger fish. Of course though if your #6 weight rod is 10' or longer well then the butt will help it become a two handed switch rod. I fish small Erie creeks with #6 and #7 weight rods and bigger rivers with a #8. I fish mostly 9' rods with 3" butts on the smaller Erie creeks and a real 10' 6" switch rod for bigger water where I want to swing flies or high stick nymph is riffs with multiple currents.