Looking for some info on a steelhead setup for the Cheney, Washington area. My friend is moving out there to go to graduate school at Eastern Washington State and Im looking to get him a setup for his birthday before he leaves. We are use to browns and brookies in SW Wisconsin. Hes got an 8ft 4wt and thats too light I believe. Anybody have some quick suggestions? Dont know much about steelheads!

Well the standard starting point for Steelhead here on the west side is an 8wt with a multi-tip system. That will get you in the game. Summer run steelhead are a smaller, and some guys chase them with a slightly lighter rod and some guys go up to a 9wt for winter fish. Spey rods are also the fancy pants thing to have for chasing the elusive fish these days. But overall an 8wt of some sort is a good place to start.

I can't speak much to flies, since all of my steelhead fishing has been to the west of the cascades. But there have been tens of thousands of pages written on the subject in the past.

Josh is right-- a seven- or eight-weight is what your friend is going to want. And he's going to want at least one of his lines to have a sink-tip on it. Most of the rivers over there--The Grande Ronde, Methow, etc., aren't super-big. So unless he plans on focussing on some of those B-Runs (bigger fish, that come in later in the fall) on the Salmon or Clearwater, that set-up would be great for him

As for flies, summer fish over there will occasionally take skated patterns like bombers, but some of the action is still going to be subsurface with egg-sucking leeches or classic patterns like Skykomish Sunrises, Purple Perils and whatnot

As far as a rod goes, go with a 9'6" or 10" rod in a 7wt or 8wt. Longer rods, equal better roll casting, and better mending. Steelhead fishing is all about line control. Make sure to get a deccent reel (preferably a large arbor), many Okumas and the like have bit the dust attached to a hot steelhead. The lines are going to be very different depending on summer or winter, and water conditions. A Versi-tip is not a bad way to go, gives lots of versatility. While there migt be a better line for a given situation, they do a good job of covering lots of situations.