Winter Steelhead in the Great Lakes

[Zonk]

I'd like to head up to the Salmon river sometime in February or March. Any advice for a newbie as I've never fished the Salmon river or fished for steelhead in any capacity?

Would a 9' 6wt and a 9' 8wt be OK? I've seen the popularity of 11' switch rods, but I don't own one and need to fish with what I currently have.

Any recommendations on flies? Length of leader and tippet size? I'm assuming I will be dead drifting an egg pattern under an indicator.

Ideas on a good flyshop up there? I'd at least need to buy some flies and a map showing the public access.

My expectations are low for this trip. Just want to get a sense of this type of fishing and invest more time, effort and money next year if its to my liking.

Zonk