I was wondering what type of equipment I would need for fly fishing for salmon and steelheads? I understand it also depends on the size of the body of water to be fished. I was courious as to what weight fly rod, type of fly line (floating, sinking, big game fish, etc.) How about leaders size and length, how about the size of tip-it material . I am not to sure what type of flys to be tying for such an adventure, if any one could make some suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

Best Fishes,
ryde

These factors can't really be answered properly until we know if your fishing for summerrun/winterrun.....river size/river conditions and presentation style. All these effect your outfit for fly fishing, because presentation is the key to sucess in any type of steelhead fishing. Your rod can be anywhere from a 81/2 ft 6 weight dry fly set up to a 14' 11 weight shooting head spey rod with leaders to match depending on the situations.
If you can catch steelhead with normal drift gear you are ahead of the game because you can read the water and understand presentation.
I recently bought Flyfishing for Steelhead by Trey Combs. He has a excellent primer on spey fishing for steelhead to go with his stories from some of the greats in flyfishing. He points several common mistakes people make during presentation of the fly. (including some of mine) I would highly recommend this book and found it quite informative. It is currently the featured book of the month club at www.steelheader.net
Tight lines
Marty

The Trey Comb's book is good advice. It is to some people (myself included) the bible for chasing steelhead with a fly. Once you get through that, you might want to check out Deke Meyer's book and a couple of Bob Arnold's as well. I would also suggest you spend some time on Dennis Dickson's website reading what he has to offer. It is well worth your time. His site is http://www.flyfishsteelhead.com/

One word of caution though. Make sure you really want to take this sport up because once you hook your first fish you will be addicted.

Ryde,

The advice to check out Comb's book is good; he compiles a lot of information there. As for what gear you should use, it just depends: what fish (salmon, steelhead, summer, winter) and where and when. With that qualifier, here's my general recommendation: an 8 weight all around rod in the length of your choice - I'd suggest 9 or 9 1/2 feet and a decent quality reel, i.e. a Pfluger Medalist or better. There are times and places for lighter and heavier rods, but the 8 weight would cover about 90% of all steelheading situations up and down the Pacific coast. I used one for more than two decades and hundreds of steelhead from 3 to over 20 pounds. The two most useful lines that cover the majority of steelheading situations would be a sinktip with 15' of high speed Hi-D and a floating line. A 10' standard sinktip is next most useful. Everybody's got an opinion on leaders as well. Here's mine: I use 3 1'2 foot on sinking lines and 10' on floating lines, with occasional exceptions. I use 8# Maxima tippet with rare exceptions, those being the Thompson River (heavier) and small or spooky low water summer runs (lighter). Flies don't seem to matter to steelhead as much as they matter to anglers. Remember, any fly's good as long as it's black. I'm partial to the Skunk and Spade for summer fishing. And any bright marabou streamer suffices for winter fishing. Consider these as general guidelines to get you started, as you'll soon develop preferences of your own.

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.

That's good advice. The only thing I would add is that for starting off you might want to consider buying one line -- either floating or the 15' sink tip -- and learn to use it before you expand your arsenal, so to speak. If you've never tossed bugs before I would suggest starting with a floating line and learning to swing sub-surface and to dead drift nymphs for steelhead. A floater is easier to cast that a sink tip and this may lessen the frustration level as you learn. I think a sink tip is probably more versatile across seasons and species, though. Also, wear glasses and a hat when you're learning (body piercing should be voluntary).