I do not see a problem with your equipment selection for steelhead, I have
used a 9 ft Fenwick fitted with a Hardy No 1 Salmon reel witha #8 WF line
for Atlantic Salmon and also a 7 ft Sage with a 5 WF line to catch large
Brook trout and good sized Northern Pike in Labrador, I had tied some long
flies with steel leaders fo this purpose.. I also hooked a decent Salmon,
which shocked the guide as he had not seen Salmon that far up the river. I
was using a 2 lb tippet but managed to get it close enough for the guide to
verify it was a Salmon before the tippet parted during a jump on his last
run.
Steelheadtrout were re classified as Salmon a few years ago because their
life cycle so closely resembled that of the Atlantic Salmon
You should ensure you have at least a sink tip line and small split shot to
get your fly closer to the bottom in the fast waters you will encounter in
Alaska.

Good Luck

"MattMika" wrote in message
...
I'm making my first trip to Alaska at the end of Aug. We will be there
almost two weeks. We plan on fishing for Halibut for a couple of days
then jumping around on creeks, rivers and backwaters in the Anchorage
area.

From what I've been reading it seems fly fishing for Steelhead is
quite ambitious if not as difficult and time consuming as musky
fishing can be. If we are there at an appropriate time is a 7/8 weight
rod sufficient for steelhead? I'm not sure if our timing will be
right for steelhead as I havent checked flow data and such for waters
we will be on, plus I dont really know anything about the area or
steelhead for that matter. My father, who was there less than a year
ago, emailed me some creek names to check out online but I havent
gotten that far yet.

My gut tells me a 7/8wt. is ok but I'm just not sure. I bought the rod
to use for pike and carp fishing but havent gotten around to using it
yet. I usually use a 3-6wt. here in Colorado and back home in Wyoming.

Anyone got any suggestions for creek/river fishing around Anchorage?
How about Pike fishing?

Thanks,
Matt Mika