Books and reels

Check out Amato Publications, www.amatobooks.com.  A good source for flyfishing magazines and books.  The other is Nick Lyons Press, www.lyonspress.com.  

Clint,
TB is right about the Rags.. Frank has lots of publication about SST.. Mostly west coast stuff but great reads..
 
As for the Pfleuger: Make sure you check out the drag knob..
I have a very old supreme 1980 that has a big knurled drag.. Great for gripping.. It's around 15 years old.. Drag is smoked for salmon and will not lock down any longer but I still like and use it for steel or browns..
Also have a newer but discontinued (for the trion) Summit 1690.. Holds a ton of line but the drag knob SUCKS..  It's more rounded and smooth making the grip stink to adjust..
It will hold salmon well but tough to grip with cold wet fingers..
Most of the pfluegers I see have the same smooth drag knob..
Sadly I broke my favorite reel an Orvis BK mid arbor IV.. Great reel but now discontinued as well.
 
My advice is to check it out in hand before buying..
Albrights suck.. Way cheap materials..  (I have parts to 2 that wont make 1)
The lamson reels seem nice too and that may be my next reel purchase for the money..
 

As far as drags go, Lamson's are hard to beat. I've been fishing their reels for 25+in the salt and fresh  and they've been great.  I also use some Orvis Demo reels that I get for a song, but that's another story. Lamson makes the Konic, which is a cast reel , though very well machined to good tolerances, and uses the same sealed bearings and ramped drag as the 300+ models.   Excellent performance for the money. Everybody that I've talked to that uses them give them a thumbs up from striper guys to steel.  Well worth looking into. Just a few bucks more than you want to spend and Waterworks/Lamson are great with repairs and warranties if you need them.  Lucky also brings up a good point- I used an 8 wt. steel/salmon taper on my   fast  9 wt. for Kings. I had no trouble doing anything I wanted with it, from swinging big bunny flies to dead drifting little stuff.  I have a 10 wt. double taper I'll use too, but it really is no  great advantage. I'm not throwing 12" herring flies that I normally would use  a 10 wt. line  for.   Your line can do double duty for steel and salmon. I upline my 7 wt. with the 8 line  for steel, because it handles everything, including my occasional use of indicators/shot/fly rigs and swinging big flies, and it'll do the same with a 9 or 10. Use your old reel as a spare and get a good reel with a good drag, you'll enjoy it.   There's  some  books by Matt Supinski , Steelhead Dreams and a Pocket Orvis Guide for GL Steel and Salmon I've read excerpts from on the net, in mags and in an Orvis store, and  they  pretty well cover GL steel and salmon. Might be worth a look. 
  PS. The  8 wt' size Konics are on sale for 100 bucks now.
Charlie

http://www.amazon.com/Wat...ywords=lamson+fly+reel
 
Charlie is this the one???   At $111 it is in my budget.

Also Trey Combs Steelhead Flies and Fishing, which is (was?) an Amato Publication, and is paperback.  But I don't get out much, maybe Steelhead was also released in paperback for less than the original hardcover, which as a first edition will  set you back over 100 bucks if you can find one now.
 
L13

That's the one, Clint.   I'd look at the 4, which suits 9-10 wts. Steel/salmon and Spey Lines, or even Double Tapers,  take up more space than a weight forward fly line;  and  there's  the bonus of having more room between the reel and the frame and taking up line a little more quickly .They do not seem to be freeze-up prone, with the sealed bearings.   Only thing I'll warn you about: With any cast reels, DO NOT just throw them on the ground as I'm sure as a mechanic,  you know what happens to castings compared to parts machined from bar stock.  I had a friend who threw his up on a rock bank in Ca. trying to land a big rainbow and it bent the edge of the spool. Lamson replaced the spool, but it took time and postage. 
 
 
Charlie