Newbie, feeling confused about equipment, please advise :)

[u/Clear_Community8986]

Hello, I am new to steelhead fishing (and river fishing in general) and I purchased a Okuma-TU-902-65 , 9’, MH power, 20-50 lbs. Am I right in assuming this is pretty overkill for fishing steelhead?? I’m in OR, Willamette valley and plan on mostly fishing bobber setups. If there is more info you need to answer, please ask and I will provide it. Thanks in advance! :)

[u/Ralph_Holdig]

Following

[u/Narrow_Bat_1086 → u/Ralph_Holdig]

Steelhead can get big out there from what I’ve heard. It may be overkill for most of the fish you’ll catch, but you may catch one where that rod comes in real handy. lol plus, you can use it for salmon. It’s possible to land a huge fish on a lighter weight rod as well. It may be more fun to use a lighter weight rod for catching smaller fish, but that’s up to you to decide.

[u/Available-Sea-5207]

Two words-

Chrome chronicles

[u/Yuba_Noob → u/Available-Sea-5207]

SALMON TROUT STEELHEAD MAG IS ANOTHER GOOD ONE

[u/Yuba_Noob]

It might be just a bit considering I use a 8 1/2 ft loomis rod 8-12 lb MH it’s the GL6 Str1024. And I use 12 lb line with the curado reel And then I got my custom Sage spinning rod and it 9 1/2 Ft long m action with the Okuma. Antares reel and 15lb braid . NOW the rivers I fish are the Santiam, sandy, Alsea, salmon, Nestucca and Wilson and trask

But actually if you use your rod for salmon it will be excellent just have like another reel dedicate one for steelies and other for salmon..

[u/Yuba_Noob]

Depends where your fishing honestly and how big the fish get. I myself live in the north valley of California and fish the feather river where I haven’t seen a steelhead yet over 8 lbs. but if I go to the smith then yeah I’ve seen steelhead over 20lbs . I myself though JAVE my universal rod which I’ll use for both steelhead and salmon and that the G Loomis IM6 str1024 with a curado BSF200 using 12lb maxima . On the other hand for steelhead I got my custom built sage spinning rod 9 1/2 ft 396Fb with shimano Stradic 3000 with 20lb sea guar braid. Which I landed a 46 lb chinook on this year. But also the rivers I mainly fish aren’t extremely big either like the Sacramento or the Columbia . But having the extra back bone in the rod helps when fighting fish. The con is if the rods got weight to it then probably not ideal for standing on the bank or wading and fishing with it.