"I love the way the Legend Ultra and Legend Elite's looks."

It is not about looks, it is about action and durability. St. Croix Legend Ultra and the St. Croix Legend Elite, both good fly rods (depends what casting action you want). If you want a detachable fighting but you can get a kit to attach one to the butt end on the fly rod. If you want it as a permanent fighting butt (sometimes it is difficult to locate the attachable fighting butt with a fish on the line), you can do that also.

I would suggest going one weight higher, Steelheads have a tendency to take your fly to a different zip code, some times they take it to a different area code. Plus, there is always the chance, you might hook into a monster.

The other reason for one weight higher, is consideration of the tip, which is going to take the most abuse, when you hook the fish. I prefer a stronger tip, over a more lively casting action. ~Parnelli

PS: Everything you need to know is in Al Campbell's "Building a Graphite Rod". Whatever you do, follow one set of instructions, you cannot have two masters when you are building a fly rod.