Steelhead Rod Help

I'll help you out a bit.  This topic come every now and them and goes into what type of fishing is better. 
I have used a 6"6' med heavy bass rod, a 9" St Croix Noodle, 5wt Cortland, 8wt Sage.  I have seen fish caught on zebco snoopy rods before.  I have not used a centerpin yet.  I am a fly guy, but that is just because I like to cover a lot of water.  A noodle works just fine.  I have a 9" St Croix Med/Fast with an open face spinning real, 8lb floro on it.  A lot of your casts will be lift and swings.  Very seldom will you pull that to the side and whip it up steam.  Learn how to read and fish the stream first, them decide what gear to buy.  If you have a med action rod take it and go with some-one that knows what they are doing and you will have a blast.  I took a buddy last year for the first time and in three hours this you would think that this guy fished all the time.  He used my spinning rod with threaded salted minnows.  I do not know what was bigger, the load in his drawers or the smile on his face.  That was with a couple of 5-6 lb jacks.
 
1) Fly rod 5wt or greater, 8wt is nice.  Make sure to have backing on your reel
2) Noodle rod with spinning real.  HAVE NOT TRIED CENTERPIN yet
3) Spinning rod. 
 
Noodle rod allows for more dirversity in baits. Minnows, River Play-Doo, Red Worms, Eggs, Egg Sacs, Flies, what ever.
 
Spinning allows for most of the same but no flies.  You can throw spoons and spinners though and that works well sometimes.
 
Fly Rod your need patience and bit of money to buy a lot of variations of flies.  (yes I know you can tie your own and I do)
 
Just go and see what works for you.

if you can or you know someone ask to use there noodle rod i have one its 11 6" and pitch spoons or scane to jigs its what i fell up for i also use it to troll the river ,like a outrigger ill have a 9 or 10 fish day doing just that ,ill also use a 6 6" spinning rod spoons /roosters/ sac/twisters white in color is always good some times ill even cast my bait caster with a rattle trap and hvy spoons i always have 4 rods set up for fishing methods for steelie and brown and will also go for kings on the same set up

the hook sets a real tough one for some peeps i see a lot of lost fish ,ive seen the snap ring just streighten out more fun than bass for me

Rjc, your goin to love it. I did at least. We made only two trips so far, I used an 8wt fly rod it worked perfect. I dont think I would want any less than a 7wt up there. My dad used a 9' noodle rod and it worked great for him. My rod is 9' and I think that size is a good choice for Erie in a fly or noodle. Alot of people I've noticed using a heavier spinning set up and were doing fine. No matter what you pick you will have fun. Good luck.

Lets just start off by saying, different conditions call for different techniques. If you are fishing high and muddy water you can use your 6lb. But when that water gets low and clear I go with 4 because, well its lighter and harder to see. A noodle rod offers different presentation because what genie said it keeps line off the water and makes the drift. Also when your setting the hook its just a pull of quick and efficient motions. Your not bass fishing, you dont have to rip their lips off. Casting a noodle rod is a little different but not much, don't cast as hard as you can like bass fishing. A "soft" cast will get you upstream because thats another plus of the rod. Most of the time you won't reel in just pull the line up and flip it right back out. GOOD LUCK

As a beginner, I would go with a 10' rod for steel and select a 6 to 8 lb. test line.  The rod really takes a lot of the stress off the weight of line you use.  No less than a 9 footer, but I recommend 10'.  Don't worry about casting it....after about two to three casts, you'll get the hang of it.